Finding Him
by SilverScyther
Summary: While Gin Ichimaru was forced to patrol the Living World he stumbled across a child with high spiritual pressure, Toshiro. An odd friendship formed and every time Gin visited the living world he would find Toshiro. When Toshiro died he forced Gin to promise that he'd find him one last time.
1. Chapter 1

Gin was bored there was no other word to describe it his feelings. He had been assigned a new area to patrol in the real world. It'd only been a few days, but there was nothing to do he'd already sent a few pluses on their way and only one hollow had appeared.

He was strolling through the market completely invisible to the town folk if they had been able to see him he would have stood out. His distinctive silver hair and Shinigami uniform certainly would catch someone's attention. He allowed his eyes to wander and it seemed he had caught someone's interest. A small boy who he estimated to be three or four years old seemed to be staring directly at him.

The boy was almost as distinctive as Gin was, his pure white hair and bright teal eyes stood out against the dark hair and eyes of the people around him, however unlike Gin he was wearing appropriate clothing. Gin continued walking thinking it was just a coincidence the boy was looking in his direction, but the boy's eyes followed him and eventually he turned his whole head to stare at Gin. 'Weird kid', Gin thought to himself. He reached out and felt the boy had very high spiritual pressure for a human.

The small boy tugged on his father's arm and pointed directly at Gin, but all his father did was pat his head and continue walking with the boy in tow. Apparently the father didn't have the same power as the boy and Gin figured he couldn't be blamed for being interested in the only person who could apparently see him. So when he followed the boy back to his home Gin thought it was completely understandable.

Once he made a mental note of where the boy lived he continued his rounds of the town. However that night he slipped through the child's open window without really considering any consequences. The mother was with the child and she didn't notice him, meaning neither parent had any sort of ability like the child. The young boy noticed him immediately and although Gin didn't catch was he said he did hear the mother, "Go to bed, you can play with your imaginary friend tomorrow." She clearly thought Gin was just a figment of his imagination.

His mother gave him a kiss on the forehead and left the room shutting the lights off before closing the door. The moon shining through the open window was the only source of light in the room, but it was enough for the the small child turned to look at Gin. "Are you my imagination?" He asked completely serious. He sat up in his bed a bit more and leaned against the headboard looking at Gin as seriously as a small child could.

"Nah, 'm real," Gin replied stepping further into the room taking a look. He felt completely relaxed waltzing into the home of a human and talking to him despite the fact that he was pretty sure it wasn't allowed, but he didn't know or particularly care. Who was going to report him, the little guy staring at him in awe?

"Really real?" The boy asked with wide eyes. His head cocked to the side and a bit of disbelief was present on his face, for some reason Gin didn't like the child doubting his existence.

"Really real," Gin picked up a picture book and put it on the nightstand next to the bed to prove he was 'really real.'

"Oh," the boy paused and after a moment asked, "Can you read to me?" He sounded almost too sweet, but Gin wasn't as bothered as he expected himself to be. Despite how he tended to act Gin wasn't really a people person and he was even less interested in kids, but he was driven by boredom so he didn't immediately leave.

Gin wasn't sure how he looked anything like someone who would read a child a book, so he simply asked, "What?"

"I wanted another story, but my mom said no," The child explained gesturing to the large amount of books on the other side of the room showing Gin where he could find a story.

"Readin' really isn' mah thing," Gin shrugged hoping to ignore the child's request. However, his attempt to shut down the idea didn't work if the expression on the child's face was anything to go by.

"Please," the small boy dragged the word out and looked up imploringly. If Gin was a lesser man he would have caved immediately to the adorable display being put on. Toshiro paused for a moment before some realization dawned on him, "Oh, you don't know how to read, I'm sorry," he apologized and Gin felt slightly offended. If the boy was trying to be sarcastic it would have been annoying, but he was being completely sincere and honestly believed Gin didn't possess the ability to read. It was even worse that the boy actually felt sorry for him.

"Ah know how ta read," Gin replied defending his honor as a literate being and quickly decided to change subjects, "Didn' your parents, eva' tell you not ta talk ta strangers?" Gin asked the boy looking at him carefully. The boy's expression didn't change, he continued looking at him innocently with no fear in his bright eyes.

"Hmm," the boy hummed as he nodded that yes his parents told him not to talk to strangers. "But you're not a stranger," he pointed out.

"Ahm not?" Gin had no idea how the boy came to that conclusion.

"Nope," he popped the 'P', "My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya what's your name?" The boy stuck out a small hand to shake as if just trading names meant they were no longer strangers.

"Gin Ichimaru," Gin replied simply and lightly grasped the other's tiny hand and shook it gently noting how small and fragile it seemed.

"So Chimaru-kun?" Toshiro asked testing the name out.

"No Shiro-chan its Gin Ichimaru," Gin placed emphasis on the 'I'. He couldn't really blame a child for not getting his name completely right, but if anyone else tried calling him Chimaru-kun he would probably already have his sword against their throat. Toshiro didn't seem to mind the name Shiro-chan which Gin thought might upset him.

"I'll just call you Gin," Toshiro decided and Gin was visibly relieved.

"Jus' because we kno' each other's names doesn' mean we aren't strangers," Gin tried to explain, but Toshiro once again shook his head.

"No, you're my in-invsible friend," the boy struggled to say invisible.

"Invisible?" Gin asked providing the boy with the word he was looking for.

"Yeah, that," the boy nodded sagely.

"A'hm not invisible, ya little monster. Most humans just can't see me," Gin informed him with a slight smile.

"I'm a monster?" The boy smiled, obviously not upset at the comparison.

"Just a lil' one," Gin responded poking the kid's forehead.

"You're not scared of me, right?" The boy asked rubbing his forehead.

"No," Gin raised an eyebrow wondering why on earth he would be scared of the child.

"Good I didn't want to scare my indivisible, friend," Toshiro smiled again.

Gin didn't bother to ask the boy why he immediately assumed they were friends or ask why he should be scared instead he told him, "Ah told ya already, A'hm not invisible just a Shinigami."

"Whazzat?" The boy asked clearly interested, but confused.

"A Shinigami is a soul reaper," Gin tried to explain which failed miserably because soul reaper meant nothing to him.

"What?" The boy repeated sounding less sure.

"We help ghosts who're stuck 'ere move on ta tha' afterlife," Gin tried again to help the child understand and a flash of realization appeared on Toshiro's face.

"You're an angel?" the boy cocked his head in a way that could only be defined as adorable.

"A'hm a far cry from an angel," Gin said in a dark tone which Toshiro clearly didn't read correctly.

"You help people go to heaven, so you're an angel. That's what angels do," the boy explained ignoring Gin's words.

"Ah fight monsters called hollows as well," Gin tried to distance himself a bit from the idea that he was some angel. It didn't really suit his personality and was slightly embarrassing.

"Does that make you a hero?" Toshiro asked completely serious.

"No, ah already told ya it means ah'm a shinigami," Gin said slightly exasperated, but he was still amused.

"A sh-shinorigami?" Toshiro tried and failed to reiterate.

"Sure close enough," Gin sighed not particularly caring about the child's ability to pronounce the word.

"Good so can you read me a story now?" Toshiro asked finding his way back to the idea of reading a story which Gin still didn't really want to do.

"Fine, but ah have ta go afta' that," Gin couldn't sense any hollows, but he still needed to patrol a bit more and get away from the boy.

The boy cheered, grabbed Gin's hand and pulled him to the bookcase to find something for reading. Gin didn't recognize the books, mainly because he didn't spend too much time in the world of the living and he didn't spend that time reading children's books.

"What'm I gonna read ya?" Gin asked, in response Toshiro shoved a small book in his hand.

"It's about some ducks," Toshiro pointed at the cover which did indeed have a duck on the front.

"Wonderful," Gin said sarcasm dripping from his voice. Toshiro once again ignored his tone or didn't understand it and dragged him to the tiny bed pulling them both onto it. Once they were situated Toshiro leaned against Gin, luckily the moonlight was shining directly onto the bed giving enough light for Gin to read and for Toshiro to point at the various pictures.

Although Gin was less than happy when he started by the end he was enjoying Toshiro's reactions to the story enough to not mind reading it. He was actually slightly disappointed when the story ended and he had to leave. It was domestic, peaceful, and so unlike the rest of his life that he couldn't help relaxing a bit. "I have ta go now Toshiro," he said to the boy who was already half asleep.

"Kay, come back some time Gin," Toshiro murmured barely conscious. Gin shook his head and gave Toshiro a fond smile, the kid was far too endearing to dislike.

"No promises," Gin replied lightly, despite his casual response he knew he'd find his way back to see Toshiro. He had only one companion in this world and if that was a small child so be it.

"Bye-bye, Gin," Toshiro mumbled just before Gin jumped back out the wind.

"Right, bye-bye, Shiro-chan," Gin replied finally leaving.

* * *

Gin showed up every night after their first meeting and each time Toshiro smiled so brightly Gin was sure it could light up the room.

On the fourth night Toshiro held up another picture book and asked Gin,"Gin, can you read to me tonight?" Gin had managed to dodge reading another story after the first night, but he finally gave in. Much to his chagrin Gin ended up taking the book and reading offering comments the whole way through about how stupid it was. Toshiro didn't seem to mind Gin's poor job at reading or his commentary.

"Thank you, Gin," he smiled brightly.

"Yeah, yeah, ya lil' beast, " Gin found it difficult to accept the thanks, but the boy's infectious smile had him smiling as well.

"You talk funny," Toshiro pointed out after listening to him read the book.

"Ah talk funny?" Gin asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's your assent, asint, ascent," Toshiro stumbled over the words.

"Accent?" Gin supplied

"Yeah, your accent," Toshiro concentrated on the word.

"Ya, know if yer gonna be mean, maybe I shouldn't come back," Gin teased.

It clearly went over Toshiro's head that he was joking and he looked horrified at the prospect of losing his new friend, "No, no I like it when you talk. It sounds nice, I like your voice and assent." Gin felt the slightest bit of warmth when the child complimented him.

Gin chose not to correct him again on his pronunciation of 'accent' instead he just patted Toshiro's head, "Ah know Shiro-chan, ah was jus' kiddin." His voice was softer and a bit more soothing than when he usually spoke.

"Oh, that's good," Toshiro breathed out in relief wrapping his tiny arms around Gin who was still seated next to him from his time reading.

"You should be gettin' ta bed now, right?" Gin asked seeing the boy's eyes starting to droop.

"Probly," Toshiro allowed Gin to gently push him from his position sitting to him being flat on his bed.

"Go ta sleep Shiro-chan," Gin rested a hand on the boy's head.

"Kay," Toshiro yawned and slipped into a deep slumber the way only a carefree child could.

"Bye-bye Gin," Toshiro said as he did every night.

"Bye-bye Shiro-chan," Gin felt weird giving such a childish goodbye, but it happened every night and who was he to change it?

Gin looked back once before he stepped out of his window into the cool night. It had only been a few days since he met Toshiro and the kid was already growing on him, which bothered Gin in some way.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I don't remember how or why I randomly came up with this idea, but once I started writing it I liked it a lot. Through the story we'll see how knowing Toshiro changed Gin and what happens with them going forward.**

 **Please let me know what you thought, I really don't have an update schedule, but I figure I'll post a second chapter in one week. Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

Finding Him

Gin's stay in the mortal world was mainly consumed by, konso, fighting a few hollows, wandering, and ultimately Toshiro. At the end of the month it was time for him to return to Soul Society and unsurprisingly Toshiro was far less than pleased.

"Gin, you're my best friend you can't go," Toshiro whined uncharacteristically, usually he was cheery and rarely complained about anything. Even when he did get slightly upset he just puffed his cheeks cutely and got over pretty quickly.

"Ah have a job ta do, Ah can't stay fo'eva', Ah need ta go back or Ah'll get in trouble," Gin tried to explain to the teary eyed child. Of course trying to reason with a young child wasn't the easiest thing to do when they were so upset.

Toshiro sniffled, "I don't want you to leave."

"I dun wanna go, if Ah could stay longer Ah would," Gin reassured the child running his fingers through the boy's hair. Gin froze when he realized what he said might not have been a lie. When he first arrived he didn't particularly like Living World and he didn't really do much besides his job. Once he met Toshiro though his stay became a lot more interesting and he developed a soft spot for the child. Before meeting Toshiro and getting to know him, Rangiku was the only person he could honestly say he really cared about.

"Can you come back for my birthday?" Toshiro scrubbed some tears from his eyes.

"When's yer birthday?" Gin asked trying to sound soothing, but to his own ears he didn't sound comforting. He wasn't made to be the comforting to type, especially not to crying children.

"December 20, that's one month and twenty days," Toshiro informed Gin, obviously counting the days despite the relatively long time.

"I promise I will try to make it back for your birthday," Gin said seriously emphasizing it by dropping his normal accent and erasing his normal easy going tone.

"Okay," Toshiro sniffled again before wrapping his tiny arms around Gin dragging him in for yet another hug., but Gin didn't really mind it anymore.

Gin didn't really know how to respond so he crouched down to get on the boy's level and lightly wrapped his arms around him tucking him just under his chin.

"Bye-bye Gin," Toshiro said his voice slightly muffled by Gin's chest.

"Bye-bye Shiro-chan," Gin said softly.

With a final squeeze he leapt out the open window and returned to soul society silently promising he would try to make it back for the boy's birthday.

* * *

He had to carefully track time because the passage of time between Soul society and the human world didn't match up exactly. He also had to make a plan on how he was getting to the human world. Luckily he had a few friends in the noble families who had their own private senkaimon.

On the night that would be December 20th he managed to sneak into the human world with less trouble that he thought. He just pretended he left a small trinket behind when he stayed there and simply wanted to retrieve it. He doubted they believed him, but people generally allowed him to do what he wanted. His wide smile and perpetually closed eyes seemed to creep many people out, which he wasn't upset by. His large amount of power certainly didn't subtract from that slightly creepy air. Of course that never fazed Toshiro who couldn't tell his power, his rank, and somehow didn't find Gin scary or creepy at all.

He hopped onto the familiar windowsill, the window had been left open despite the biting cold. The familiar room was completely dark which surprised him, "Shiro-chan are ya there?"

"Gin," a small voice called out and he was hit with the full force of a child's hug. He managed to prevent them from falling out the window and with a slight chuckle he carried the boy into the room and planted him on his small bed. He made sure to close the window behind them noticing how cold the child felt.

"Happy Birthday Shiro-chan," Gin said his smiling slipping into something far more real and casual than his perpetual smirk.

"Thanks Gin," Toshiro said already gripping onto Gin for another hug. Gin was never huge on physical contact, but it was Toshiro and a special occasion so he didn't pull away.

"Why's it so dark an' cold in 'ere?" Gin asked squinting in the darkness. Only the moonlight gave him the ability to see.

"You came really late at night, I waited up for you," the boy explained, "I didn't want mommy or daddy to see the light and I had to keep the window open for you."

Gin felt a twinge of guilt and quickly moved to solve the light problem, orbs of light formed on his fingertips and floated into the air to light up the room. "Sorry Ah'm so late, Shiro-chan," Gin apologized.

"It's okay I knew you would come, what are you doing with the lights?" Toshiro whispered his attention completely drawn away from Gin's lateness. His eyes were locked firmly on the balls of energy floating around his room.

"Ahm usin' my reitsu ta make balls o' light," Gin said and quickly realized the boy had no idea what he meant.

"Cool," Toshiro replied, but clearly he didn't understand.

"It's a Shinigami, thing," Gin shrugged and Toshiro seemed to accept the explanation easily enough not bothering to ask any follow up questions.

"Kay," Toshiro said reached out to touch the nearest ball. It was warm to the touch, but it wasn't completely solid. The child seemed completely fascinated by it which Gin was happy about, Toshiro enjoyed the small things Gin never thought twice about.

Gin chose not to ask what Toshiro would have done if he didn't make it time for his birthday, he didn't like thinking about the possibility.

"Hey Gin?" Toshiro looked up at Gin who had been watching the boy try to play with the lights.

Gin hummed in response, giving Toshiro his attention.

"How come I'm the only one who can see you?" Toshiro turned his large teal eyes to Gin his curiosity was obvious.

"Ya have mo' reiryoku than most normal people," Gin told him, he'd tried to explain the concept of reitsu and reiryoku a few times and Toshiro understood to a slight degree, but he didn't entirely get the concept.

"Like you?" Toshiro asked, knowing enough to know Gin was special compared to normal people.

"Not as much as me, but Ahm really strong," Gin informed him grinning when Toshiro looked at him with amazement.

"You're a superhero," Toshiro jumped up. He stood on the bed and did his best superhero pose which forced Gin to grab him when he almost fell off the bed.

"Not exactly, ya do have mo' than most people just like Ah do, but yer still human," Gin held his hand out and another light formed in his hand which he released into the air to join the others.

"So can I make the lights?" he gestured the light he had been playing with.

Gin paused, in theory if Toshiro had the reiatsu than it should be possible for him to manipulate it. He hadn't heard about a human aside from one of those Quincy trying to use their spiritual pressure for any reason so he wasn't sure, but no matter what Toshiro was way too young to be playing around with that power. Especially living among humans, if something went wrong he'd be in a whole mess of trouble. "Ah know ya dun want ta hear this, but yer too young ta use reitsu," Gin said trying to sound sad for Toshiro's sake.

"What?" Toshiro sounded offended at the idea that he was too young, "I just turned four," he held up four fingers to prove his point.

"Ahm really sorry Shiro-chan," Gin looked at the depressed child, "but how about Ah give ya a birthday present instead?"

"What kind of present?" Toshiro asked unshed tears still waiting to fall.

"Well, what'd ya want?" Gin asked, he wasn't above stealing to make the boy smile.

"Can I see your sword?" Toshiro asked. Gin had mentioned the importance of Zanpakto, but he'd refused to let Toshiro touch it. For two reasons, first he was worried the child would hurt himself, but also because a Zanpaktou was incredibly important and touching another person's was a very personal matter.

Gin sighed and carefully removed Shinso from its sheath. He sat down next to Toshiro on the bed and rested it along his lap flat. Gin looked at Toshiro seriously, "Toshiro, only touch tha flat part and if it hurts ya make sure ya pull away."

Shinso was notably temperamental when it came to being touched. A release of energy came off the contact point every time someone touched the blade, it was usually only a zap, but he didn't want Toshiro to get hurt. Only Rangiku had gotten away with it without Shinso getting too upset, but she had many spent years with Gin and by extension his blade.

Toshiro gave him a confused look, but agreed saying, "Kay," in the most serious voice he could muster. He reached out and with a single finger touched the blade. He recoiled as Gin expected, but he didn't cry out instead he laughed. "That tickled," he giggled and reached out again to tap the blade once more without any problems.

He rested a hand on his blade surprised at the reception to Toshiro's touch. Toshiro followed suit resting his tiny palm on the flat of the sword.

"I like this one, Gin." The light voice of his Zanpakto washed over him in a relaxing way, but Toshiro jumped away like he'd been struck.

"Your sword can talk," Toshiro said in a mixture of a question and a statement. Gin nodded, but froze when he realized that Toshiro heard his Zanpakuto.

Gin removed his hand and gestured for Toshiro to put his hand back on the blade. He watched Toshiro carefully trying to see if he was doing anything. "The sword isn't talking anymore, but it feels warm," Toshiro stared at his hand which was still resting on Shinso.

Gin placed his hand back on the zanpakuto and Shinso began to speak again, "I can't speak directly to the boy, but he can hear if I'm speaking to you and he's in contact me."

"Hi sword," Toshiro chirped bouncing in excitement.

"Hello," Shinso spoke using Gin's connection as a means of communication. Shinso sounded rather amused at the situation and the boy's giggling.

After having a three-way conversation with Toshiro and Shinso, Gin came to the conclusion that his Zanpaktou was enamored with Toshiro and Toshiro returned the sentiment. Gin sheathed his sword and looked at Toshiro, "Ya know yer gonna make me jealous, if ya become too friendly with mah sword."

Toshiro leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "I really like your sword, but Gin you're still my favorite. Don't tell him I said that, I don't want to hurt his feelings."

Gin forced himself not to laugh at Toshiro not wanting to hurt Shinso's feelings, "It's our secret, Ah won' tell a soul."

Rather than ask Gin to read him a story or play a game, Toshiro simply wanted to learn more about Soul Society.

Gin tried to keep it simple enough for Toshiro to understand and focused on keeping it light rather than focus on death or Hollows. Toshiro spent most of the time hugging him or climbing into his lap. Gin guessed the boy wanted reassurance that he was really there.

Unfortunately Toshiro did need to sleep and Gin could literally see the boy's eyelids beginning to droop. "Hey, Shiro-chan before Ah go, Ah'm gonna give ya anotha' present," Gin said to the child who opened his eyes to look at Gin with a question written on his face.

Gin forced some reiatsu to his hands and started manipulating it, glowing energy flowed around his hand and after a few moments the light faded. He manipulated and solidified his reiatsu into a small object. "Here ya go Shiro-Chan," he said and placed his creation in Toshiro's lap.

"It's a snowflake," Toshiro said studying it, "Thanks Gin, it's really pretty."

"Try pickin' it up," Gin prompted the child who followed the directions. The moment it touched Toshiro's fingers it started glowing lightly and shocked Toshiro into dropping it, once out of his hands the light faded away.

"What's that, Gin?" He stared at Gin with unhidden awe.

"It reacts ta spiritual pressure, which means if anyone else tries ta touch it nothin'll happen, but if one o' us touch it the snowflake lights up," Gin explained and picked it letting enough reiatsu leak out to make it light brightly.

He handed it back to Toshiro and it continued to glow, but it dimmed when Gin released it. Toshiro noticed and cocked his head, "How come it's brighter for you?"

"Because Ah'm really strong rememba'," Gin tapped Toshiro's forehead reminding him.

"Because your a superhero," Toshiro pointed at Gin with a big smile.

"Ahm a Shinigami," Gin corrected him for what felt like the hundredth time, but in reality he didn't mind being called a superhero, granted he knew very little about them. "Now ya need ta get yerself ta sleep," He lightly brought Toshiro into a lying position lifting him just enough to slide a pillow under his head.

"I can stay up," Toshiro tried to protest, but the large yawn that followed the statement ruined his argument.

"Nah, because yer already sleepin," he looked at Toshiro whose breathing was already evening out after pulling a blanket over the boy he stepped back and regarded him carefully. Gin was a jaded individual, but even he had to admit Toshiro was flat out adorable. He could only imagine what everyone in the seireitei would think if they saw him basically tucking Toshiro into bed.

The palm sized snowflake he gave Toshiro as a gift had more than one purpose, the glowing was actually a measurement of the reitsu being fed into it. In Gin's case he was testing it, Toshiro on the other hand was accidentally releasing pressure which also allowed Gin to roughly measure how powerful Toshiro was. His strength would only increase over time and eventually Gin knew he'd have to teach Toshiro how to suppress it. The final ability it had was that it would allow him to track Toshiro whenever he was touching the snowflake.

"Bye-bye, Shiro-Chan," Gin whispered before he effectively disappeared.

* * *

 **Okay Chapter 2 is complete**

 **To the guest reviewers thank you for reviewing and I wish I could thank you directly. As far as Gin's accent goes I did edit chapter one to clean it up and bit and you'll have to forgive me going forward I've never written a character with an accent especially one I keep editing as I write because I'm still fine tuning it.**

 **I did manage to post this one a week after the first, but I don't think I'll be able to do weekly posts, maybe bi-weekly because I'm writing a few other stories as well. Plus I'm debating which direction to take this story, I have three main ideas so I'll have to decide which plot I want to follow.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think or if there's anything I should be doing.**


	3. Chapter 3

Whenever Gin could he would sneak into the human world on his own to visit Toshiro and every time he was actually being sent to the human world to patrol he requested the same town. Whenever he was asked why he merely shrugged and said it was because it was easier to do the same place, it was familiar. As a seated Shinigami he was usually given what he asked for.

His assignments to the human world were sporadic, but they were for decent amounts of time so he would get to spend a few weeks with Toshiro during the time in between these visits he would sneak in, but he couldn't do that as often as he'd like. Once the assignment was over he wasn't required to go back for another year and when he was promoted to a high seated member he didn't have to patrol the human world at all. However he volunteered and people eventually chalked it up to him wanting to ditch paper work, but luckily he was given leeway. So he was allowed to watch Toshiro grow up bit by bit.

* * *

After Toshiro turned four Gin was able to witness his wild imagination and listened to the stories that Toshiro made up about Soul Society. Some were far off, but some actually hit closer to home in a sense. Gin also became subject to Toshiro's almost endless stream of questions, which Gin eventually got used to.

Gin sat in what had been dubbed his spot on Toshiro's bed and looked at Toshiro who was looking around the room for something. The boy wandered to different parts of his room rooting through his belongings.

"What're ya lookin' fo' Shiro-chan?" Gin's curiousity got the better of him after watching for a while. the child who was currently halfway under his bed.

"A picture I drew," Toshiro answered from halfway under his bed.

Gin hummed in response and out of the corner of his eye caught a piece of paper sitting on top of the bookcase where Toshiro couldn't look. He walked over and picked it up and looked it over carefully. Three crudely drawn people stood in the center of the paper near a tree with the sun above their heads. The grass under their feet was littered with flowers and what Gin guessed was a house was drawn near the side of the paper. "Shiro-chan is this is?" he asked just as Toshiro crawled out from under his bed.

"You found it!" Toshiro exclaimed running over to Gin. "Do you think it's good?" Toshiro asked looking uncharacteristically shy.

"It's good Shiro-chan," Gin reassured him crouching down to hand over the drawing. "Who're tha people?" Gin pointed a long finger and the three figures.

"Me, Mom, and Dad," Toshiro pointed to each person as he revealed who they were. "Hey Gin do you have any family?" Toshiro turned his large eyes to Gin.

"Nah, I dun' have any family," Gin shrugged he wasn't particularly bothered by the fact that as far as he knew he had no family. He had Rangiku and she had been the closest thing to family for him for a long time.

"Oh," Toshiro looked like he was upset on Gin's behalf, but it quickly morphed into a smile, "You can be my family, you're my best friend so I'll adopt you."

Gin was surprised at how thick his voice felt when he replied, "Okay, Shiro-chan we'll be family." He chose not to explain that he couldn't really be adopted, he just accepted the kind thought for what it was.

Toshiro nodded in confirmation and ran to the other side of the room gathering his hand full of crayons. He returned and commanded Gin stay still, which Gin did despite his confusion. After a minute of Toshiro glancing at Gin while drawing something he finally stopped seemingly satisfied with his work. He held the picture up to Gin who could see a fourth person could had been drawn into the picture holding Toshiro's hand.

"See Gin, now you're part of my family," Toshiro pointed at the poorly drawn image of Gin, "I don't want you to be alone Gin, that's too sad so now you always have me," Toshiro rested a tiny hand on Gin's shoulder which he could barely reach as they sat on his bed. Gin almost laughed, a child was trying to comfort him.

"Ah feel a lot betta' thanks Shiro-chan," Gin replied meeting the younger male's smile with something a lot more conflicted. Toshiro was a human he really shouldn't be getting so close to him, but it wasn't Gin's choice anymore, Toshiro had already decided they were family and Gin wouldn't have been able to convince him otherwise even if he tried.

* * *

It wasn't until later after Gin managed to reconcile his thoughts that Toshiro asked another question,"Do you have lots of friends? You're really nice so I bet you do," Toshiro's smile didn't waver, his faith in Gin was absolute.

"Ah have a lot o' people who Ahm friendly with," Gin slightly avoided the question slightly. He acted off-putting so he didn't have many friends mainly because he scared people. A lot of the time it was on purpose, it was funny to play tricks on people or scare those working below him. However he did have people he spent time with, he just didn't feel particularly close to them. It also was less dangerous, but he tried not to think about that.

"Who's your best friend?" Toshiro cocked his head.

Gin decided to indulge the child, "Mah best friend is, Shiro-chan."

Toshiro lit up, "You too, you're my best friend too, Gin."

"Ah kno' ya said it a lot," Gin pointed out tapping Toshiro lightly on his forehead.

"Because it's true," Toshiro launched himself at Gin for yet another one of his endless hugs.

"Yeah, I kno'," Gin replied sighing good-naturedly letting one of his long arms wrap around Toshiro.

Toshiro pulled his head away from Gin to look up and ask, "Who's your next best friend?"

"Ran-chan," Gin answered opening himself up to more questions because Toshiro would never be satisfied with such a simple answer.

"Ran-chan?" Toshiro repeated slowly as if trying the name out. "Who is Ran-chan?" he asked as Gin had expected him to.

"Her name's Rangiku, Ah've known her fo' a long time," Gin explained briefly not going into his entire childhood with her.

"Is she really nice?" Toshiro asked looking like he hoped Gin had nice friends.

"Ran-chan's really nice, proble' one of tha nicest people I kno'," Gin replied with a nod putting Toshiro at ease.

"That's good, can I meet her some day?" Toshiro asked rolling over onto his back staring straight up at Gin. Gin knew Toshiro was interested in his life in Soul society and Gin in general so wanting to meet his friends wasn't surprising.

"Maybe, Ah'll bring 'er along sometime when Ah visit," Gin lied easily. Toshiro was his little secret, he couldn't imagine sharing him anytime soon, not even with Rangiku. He figured he would get in trouble if anyone found out, he knew there were a few normal humans who could see spirits and in turn Shinigami, but it was frowned upon getting too close. His friendship with Toshiro had easily reached that point, he was sneaking out to see the boy.

Still he was sure Rangiku would love Toshiro because if he could worm his way into Gin's shriveled heart he could easily break right into her's. Plus they were two of the only people who actually liked Gin, so clearly they had very good or very bad taste in people. Somewhere very deep inside her refused to admit he just didn't want to share Toshiro and he was afraid Toshiro might like someone else better than him.

* * *

It wasn't until Toshiro's fifth birthday that Gin found out about Toshiro's love for snow. He arrived after dark had fallen and just like the year before found Toshiro awake. He wasn't surprised when Toshiro latched onto him and went off about how much he missed Gin, but he was surprised when Toshiro started telling him about the fact that it snowed.

Gin had obviously noticed the snow when he arrived, but he didn't think much of it and he admitted as much, "Ah didn' really think much 'bout it."

"Gin, snow is so fun, I'll show you. Let's go outside," he grabbed Gin and started dragging Gin to the door.

Gin knew enough about people to know Toshiro's pajamas weren't going to be warm enough for the freezing temperature at night. "Shiro-chan, Ah dun want ya freezin'."

Toshiro cocked his head slightly before it dawned on him and he rushed to his drawers and pulled out a sweater which he put on and some bulky pants he pulled on. Finally he went his closet moving a bit slower due to the slightly restrictive snow pants and got a heavy winter jacket. "Gin, can you help me with the zipper I can't reach."

Toshiro looked adorable in all the heavy clothes, but Gin chased away the laugh bubbling inside him and instead just nodded his head. He slowly zippered the boy's jacket before picking him up easily and jumping out the window. Tosishiro shrieked in delight as they flew through the air landing lightly near his house.

"Do you want to make a snowman, Gin?" Toshiro asked picking up a bit of snow in his gloved hand. Gin didn't have any extra clothing, but it wasn't hard to use his reitsu to keep himself warm if he focused.

"Snowman?" Gin rose an eyebrow not entirely sure what a 'snowman' was. If Toshiro's wide-eyed reaction was anything to go by, he guessed it was rather common among humans.

"I'll teach you," Toshiro informed him with a determined look. "Roll snow into a big ball," Toshiro said while trying to gather snow.

With his larger hands Gin was able to easily scoop up snow and drop it into a pile where Toshiro was trying to roll it up. Eventually they managed to make a decently sized ball. "Next make a medium ball," Toshiro told him gesturing to get more snow. Once again Gin went through the motions of gathering snow still not sure what this creation was going to be nor exactly how large 'medium' was supposed to be.

"Put it on top," Toshiro pointed first to the smaller ball and then to the larger one. Gin did as commanded and plopped the ball on top of the other. Toshiro repeated the process with the smallest ball yet which he put on top of the other two balls.

"Perfect," Toshiro announced and clapped. Gin wasn't sure how this was a man, but if Toshiro was happy so was he. "Now get two sticks and some small rocks," he said in an authoritative tone.

"Rememba' yer manners Shiro-chan," Gin wagged a finger back and forth smiling slightly.

Toshiro to his credit looked thoroughly abashed when he apologized and somehow Gin was left feeling bad. "Gin, can you please get some sticks and rocks?" Toshiro asked looking up from his shoes.

Once again Gin did as asked and gathered up the supplies which Toshiro directed him how to apply. Gin looked it over somewhat seeing how it could be called a man, but he wasn't impressed of course he didn't admit that.

"Now all we need is a carrot, a scarf, and a hat," Toshiro looked up at him. "Do you know where we could get a carrot, a scarf, and a hat, Gin?"

Gin almost snorted in laughter, but he restrained himself and picked the boy up and leapt back into Toshiro's home. "Do ya have a hat o' scarf?"

"I have a hat, but if we use it my mommy will see it and know I was awake," Toshiro sounded sad and Gin was mildly surprised, he ignored the fact that he and Toshiro didn't live in their own little world and Gin's actions could effect Toshiro.

"Leave it ta me," Gin patted the boys head and decided to head to the next town small town a few miles away via shunpo. It took a bit of time, but he managed to steal what he needed, he wasn't above doing so in normal times and for Toshiro he was completely fine robbing people of small items. By the time he returned Toshiro had removed his gloves and was drawing another picture. "Shiro-chan," he called softly to the boy who looked at Gin and the items in his arms.

It wasn't long before Toshiro was guiding him in his placement of the new materials. Once they finished Gin stepped back to admire their creation and he smiled, when he looked at the proud expression on Toshiro's face his smile widened a bit. "Time fo' sleep Shiro-chan," Gin scooped the boy up and once again jumped through the window.

Now that the excitement had ended Toshiro was showing signs of being ready to sleep notably the large yawn that found its way out of his mouth. "Kay," he said not fighting to stay up.

"Happy Birthday, Shiro-chan," he whispered as he set the boy down.

"Bye-Bye, Gin," Toshiro mumbled

"Bye-Bye," Gin was passed feeling embarrassed and set his little gift on Toshiro's nightstand. The gift was just a few spinning tops he learned how to make back when he was younger, but he knew Toshiro would appreciate it. He made a point of looking at the picture Toshiro had drawn, it was a snow man named Gin.

* * *

Chapter 3 is complete I hope you enjoyed it. The story is going to continue in a similar way to this one with small scenes through Toshiro's childhood until he heads to soul society, which was one of the first scenes I wrote. At that point the way the story is written will shift slightly, but we can worry about that later.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

As was quickly becoming the norm Gin slipped through Toshiro's window and landed lightly. He moved into what had become his designated spot, the left side of Toshiro's bed leaving Toshiro enough room to tuck himself under his arm.

"Gin, I'm going to kindergarten," Toshiro announced proudly just as Gin settled down and although Gin wanted to congratulate him he honestly had no idea what or where that was.

"Shiro-chan what's kinda'garden," Gin asked looking at the boy who looked back like Gin with the same confusion.

"The shinigami don't have kindergarten?" Toshiro asked getting the pronunciation of shinigami correct, which was becoming more common.

"Nah, at least I dun' think so," Gin thought back for a moment, but couldn't recall ever hearing the word.

"It's what they call school, when you're little," Toshiro shrugged as if this was all the explanation that Gin needed. "Do you know what school is?" Toshiro asked seemingly worried about Gin's possible lack of knowledge.

"I kno' what school is, Ah went to Shinigami Academy," Gin replied still reclining on Tosiro's bed, not having moved during the conversation.

"What's that like?" Toshiro asked and Gin realized he once again invited Toshiro to send him a barrage of questions. It wasn't that he particularly minded Toshiro asking him questions, it was that he didn't have great answers for most things and felt self-conscious about disappointing the boy.

"Well I graduated all six grades in one year, so I dun' kno' too much," Gin tried to backtrack a bit to avoid too many questions about his time in the academy. It was another place where he wasn't particularly loved. Although he did have Rangiku for a year she didn't graduate early like he did and because he moved through the school so quickly they didn't share many classes. He wasn't going to tell Toshiro that most students and some teachers were scared of him and that he was somewhat ostracized due to his status as a genius.

"Really?" Toshiro asked not as if he doubted Gin, but something more akin to his usual curiosity.

"Yeah Ah went through tha curriculum in a shor' time," Gin tried to sound as if he didn't care because in all honesty graduating quickly didn't really make him particularly impressed with himself.

"So you're a genius," Toshiro looked at Gin with that special brand of adoration that made Gin feel as close to warm and fuzzy as someone like himself could get. Gin decided that maybe he could be proud of himself if this was the reaction he would get from Toshiro.

"Thas' what they call me," Gin replied nonchalantly trying not to let his pleasure be too apparent.

"Then I'll be a genius too," Toshiro declared resolutely clearly trying to follow in Gin's footsteps and Gin couldn't pretend it wasn't flattering. He just hoped Toshiro coped with the world in a better way than he did, being a genius wasn't easy.

"Good fo' you Shiro-chan,"Gin petted his head affectionately and let Toshiro ramble on about what he was going to do in school, adding his own comments where necessary to contribute to the conversation. He silently dreaded the day when Toshiro would no longer look at him as if he was the greatest person in the world, but for now he would enjoy the boy chattering endlessly beside him.

Before he left he made sure to call back, "Bye-bye Shiro-chan, tell me how Kinda'garden is goin' next time Ah see ya."

"kay," Toshiro responded sleepily. By the time Gin closed the window and leapt out into the night Toshiro had already slipped into sleep without a worry.

* * *

Somehow Gin was only mildly surprised that when he came for his next visit Toshiro decided he wanted Gin to help tutor him so he could be a better genius. He also didn't find it hard to believe that Toshiro really might be a genius. The boy grasped concepts quickly and easily retained information, he also had little trouble applying what he learned. Of course he was still a child so Gin didn't try to push him, there was also the problem that he didn't know much about what humans were supposed to learn or at what rate.

So Gin did what he thought would be best, slip into various library's to get the books he thought would be useful to help Toshiro because he cared very little for most humans and a few missing books wouldn't kill anyone. Whenever Toshiro asked where he got the books from Gin would half lie and say he borrowed them and Toshiro had no reason to doubt him.

It wasn't as if they had a schedule once in a while Toshiro would randomly decide he wanted to learn something new and Gin would comply. Like everything else he did with Toshiro it was somehow relaxing and fun. He had no intentions of becoming a teacher, but if Toshiro wanted to learn something, Gin would do his best to make sure he did.

From what Toshiro told him in his wild rants about school, he seemed to be enjoying it which was why it was totally unexpected when one night he told Gin he was being bullied. Almost immediately Gin wanted to find these kids so he could hunt them down, but quelled his anger enough to listen to Toshiro. His hunt for the bullies could be put off for a few minutes.

"There's this red girl who keeps bothering me," Toshiro told him waving his small hands around.

"A red girl," Gin repeated back slowly not entirely sure what a 'red girl' was. Humans weren't generally red as far as he was aware, if some freak was harassing Toshiro he would end it at the source.

"This girl turns red whenever I'm around and she yells at me all the time. It's weird, I don't like her," Toshiro pouted and it dawned on Gin that the 'red girl' was probably just a little girl with a crush on his Shiro-chan.

He laughed lightly and told Toshiro his guess, "She prob'ly jus' has a crush on ya."

Toshiro looked at him confusion painted across his features, clearly he didn't know what a crush was.

"She prob'ly jus' likes ya," Gin reiterated in a simpler way hoping he wasn't going to have to teach Toshiro any lessons about love just yet.

"Why?" Toshiro cocked his head and Gin felt the need to reassure Toshiro because if he thought Toshiro was incredible then clearly the rest of the world should agree.

"Well yer smart, funny, and cute o' course she'd like ya," Gin patted Toshiro's head complimenting the small child.

Toshiro gave him a wide smile, but slipped to a more curious look when he asked, "What do I do about it?"

"Ya dun have ta do anythin', just kno' she ain't tryin' ta hurt ya. She jus' can't express 'er feelings," Gin shrugged, "Ya can't do much else without upsettin' 'er.

"Okay," Toshiro looked slightly doubtful more at the fact that the girl wasn't out to get him rather than at Gin's advice.

"Now I gotta go sleep tight, Shiro-chan," Gin tucked the boy in before doing his standard jump out the window shutting it behind him.

* * *

It was uncommon for Toshiro to be quiet for long periods of time unless he was tired so when Toshiro seemed deep in thought, Gin didn't bother him. "Hey Gin," Toshiro piped up from his place beside Gin on the bed putting an end to the rare comfortable silence they were experiencing, not that Gin particularly minded.

Gin hummed in response waiting for Toshiro to ask whatever question would pop into his five year old mind, which admittedly could be almost anything. Somehow Toshiro would often manage to ask something Gin completely unexpected.

"Why do you squint so much, do you need glasses?" Toshiro waved his hand by Gin's face as if that would test his sight. Gin lightly took the boy's hand and put it back by his side before choosing how to answer his question.

"Nah, I jus' narrow mah eyes natr'lly," Gin replied and it had almost become natural for him to do so, his eyes betrayed his emotions a bit too much and they were unnerving to most people. He learned at a young age his red eyes scared people, narrowing them seemed odd and creepy in it's own right, but by comparison it wasn't as bad.

"Well can I see your eyes? Are they pretty?" Toshiro stood on the bed so his tiny frame was level with Gin who was reclining against the headboard. He looked excited which wasn't out of character, but certainly it was out of the norm for Gin when his eyes were brought up.

"They're not so nice, Shiro-chan Ah'll jus' keep 'em closed," Gin responded easily his voice having a mild tone of finality. Most people wouldn't have pushed if they got the slightest inclination that Gin didn't want to talk about something or run off in fear if he appeared annoyed by their questions. However Toshiro wasn't most people and decided that it was worth pressing the matter.

"Please," Toshiro begged dragging out the word and like usual Gin couldn't refuse the kid, his he wide eyed puppy dog look was adorable enough to make anyone cave. He belatedly realized he was becoming too soft, but as long as nobody else found out he was alright with it. Toshiro liked him and he could still scare the majority of people he met, that was what mattered.

Instead of responding verbally he slowly relaxed his face and fully opened his eyes, expecting the worst. His eyes, which were generally described as looking like dried blood, met Toshiro's turquoise gaze and to his surprise Toshiro didn't even flinch. Toshiro just leaned in closer until they were almost face to face and kept his eyes locked with Gin's, seemingly fascinated with them. "I like your eyes, Gin." Toshiro said in a whispered tone.

"Really?" Gin tried not to sound too surprised, but even Rangiku had flinched when she first saw them, she'd since grown used to them.

"Yeah, I really like them a lot," Toshiro's smile didn't fade, but he moved back slightly so his nose wasn't practically touching Gin's anymore.

Gin knew the boy didn't have it in him to lie so he felt fairly embarrassed by the compliment and more than a little pleased. "Ain't ya scared Shiro-chan? Yer eyes are nice, but mine're creepy," Gin wasn't trying to incite fear, but he wanted to know why the boy wasn't scared.

"No way, yours are super cool," Toshiro nodded to himself. He looked directly at Gin when he added, "I don't know anyone else with red eyes, so you're special."

"Well thas' a first, Shiro-chan ya always amaze me," Gin summoned up a small smile and added, "Yer special too Shiro-chan."

"You're my best friend, Gin," he latched onto Gin burying his face in Gin's shihakusho. The rest of his words were slightly muffled by Gin's clothing, but he could hear Toshiro say, "I wanna stay friends forever."

"Yeah Shiro-chan we'll best friends fo'eva," Gin assured the boy, threading his and through Toshiro's soft white hair and rubbing his head. He desperately hoped it was true.

* * *

 **A/N**

Okay so that is chapter four. I'm sorry for taking so long, but I'm writing a few stories and for a while I couldn't use my laptop so I had to use public computers which slowed me way down on all my stories.

As far as the story goes I'm debating whether or not to continue at a fairly slow pace for Toshiro's childhood or speed up his aging so I can get to the next part of the story which is obviously in soul society.

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think.

Note: I know that Gin's eyes appear blue through most of the show and his eyes were only red in the beginning, but in this story I decided to keep him as having red eyes. It's a choice that will be referenced slightly in a later chapter, but either way his eye color has very little effect on the story.


	5. Chapter 5

Gin was always slightly surprised at how perceptive Toshiro could be. He'd known the boy for quite some time so that played a role, but usually only Rangiku who he'd known for decades could read his moods. Even she had trouble figuring him out, but this little boy was easily able to tell how Gin was feeling. So he shouldn't have been surprised that Toshiro immediately asked him what was wrong when he sat down next to him.

"Whadda mean Shiro-chan?" Gin's grin didn't falter, but he could see Toshiro looking at him clearly not buying it. It was true that he wasn't in a great mood he had been slowly trying to pull away from Rangiku for her safety, but it wasn't easy.

"You don't need to lie to me Gin, I know you're sad," Toshiro looked at him with something almost like disapproval mixed with more than a little hurt. Somehow Gin ended up feeling guilty for not being completely honest with his young friend.

"Ahm sorry, Shiro-chan yer right," Gin sighed laying back allowing his head to rest on the pillows next to Toshiro's seated form.

Toshiro gently ran his tiny hands through Gin's hair, rather than bat him away like he would most people he just let the small boy continue his comforting. "What's wrong?"

Gin sighed, "Jus' some things from back where I live, 's nothin' big."

"From say-ray-tay?" Toshiro sounded it out trying to remember the name Gin had mentioned a few times.

"Yeah, some Shinigami stuff nothin' ta worry 'bout," Gin cracked one eye open to look at Toshiro who nodded.

"We can still talk if you want," Toshiro offered trying to make Gin's mood improve.

"Jus' bein' with you makes me feel betta', Shiro-chan," Gin replied easily still allowing the boy to essentially pet him like a cat.

"Ok," Toshiro said. The two sat in silence for a little while with Toshiro methodically running his hand through Gin's hair and there was no point denying he liked their quiet little moments. As long as he was alone with Toshiro he could forget about Aizen and the rest of the twisted world.

* * *

"Gin when are you going to teach me how to fight?" Toshiro asked seemingly out of the blue. He was telling Gin about his day in second grade before he switched onto that tangent.

"Is anyone botherin' ya, Shiro-chan?" Gin asked, his protective feelings bubbling to the surface. He wasn't particularly averse to throwing children off rooftops if they were bothering his little Shiro-chan. He might be eight years old, but Gin still thought he was probably the most adorable child living or dead.

"No, I'm ok, but you keep telling me to wait until I'm older and I feel older today," Toshiro nodded sagely.

Gin snorted, but agreed to keep him happy, "Ya do look a bit bigga'."

"I knew it," Toshiro jumped off the bed onto his feet, "so now you have to teach me."

"Toshiro," Gin started trying to sound serious, but he realized he'd walked into a trap.

"You didn't lie, right? You don't think I'm a baby, do you?" Toshiro pulled out his puppy dog eyes and Gin knew he had been beat. He must have been rubbing off the kid leading him down the path of evil manipulation.

"Ah, dun think yer a baby, Shiro," Gin sighed giving up on getting out of the situation, "Fine Ah'll teach ya a bit." Gin stood up and beckoned for Toshiro to follow him, like usual he picked up Toshiro and with a few flash steps they ended up in a secluded section of a nearby park. It was quite a mild night, even nature seemed to be urging him to teach Toshiro how to defend himself.

"Ya, already kno' how ta' focus all that reiryoku ya got," Gin started and to confirm it Toshiro stared at his hand for a few moments before a small ball of light appeared. "Now it's jus' a matta' of manipulatin' it ta a specific form," Gin held his hand out and without an incantation he called out, "Hado numba' 31 shakkaho." A red orb of light flickered into existence in his palm and with a slight twitch of his muscle it flew and struck a small boulder on the other end of the park. The rock exploded and the light faded away, leaving only Toshiro's small energy to provide light.

When Gin glanced at Toshiro he saw complete awe written across his features. "That was so cool, can I learn to do that?" Toshiro was practically vibrating in excitement.

"Nah, thas' a bit advanced yer gonna hafta' start smaller," Gin rested a hand on Toshiro's shoulder and although the boy seemed to deflate for a second he perked back up almost instantly.

"So what can I learn?" He asked the energy in his hand pulsating wildly with his excitement.

"Let's just start small, ya need ta remember incantations and stay focused so it ain't too easy," Gin patted Toshiro's head. He didn't feel comfortable teaching Toshiro anything in the way of attacking, but some low level bakudo probably wouldn't kill anyone. The only positive thing was that normal humans couldn't actually see the kido they would only notice the effects so if they were bound it would just seem like they were having a panic attack or something.

As excited as Toshiro was he was a remarkably focused student and didn't allow himself to get distracted, Gin almost found the personality shift disconcerting. In only a few hours Toshiro had managed to grab the concept of kido and its application as well as a few low level bakudo spells. He was hardly a pro nor would he be able to run around firing spells off, but his speed at learning was on a level that matched his own when he was young. It was only when Toshiro's yawns became uncontrollable that Gin realized how late it was.

He quickly got Toshiro into his bed, but he knew the boy would be exhausted the next day. Still it was what Toshiro had wanted and he knew the boy wouldn't mind being a little sleepy especially because it was now the weekend so he could sleep in.

* * *

He made Toshiro swear he would never use the power in front of anyone, the only reason he continued to teach him was because he was worried that as he grew older his power would grow greater and attract hollows. Especially since the area Toshiro lived in seemed to be a hotbed for hollows for no real reason. He had a horrible feeling that somehow Aizen knew he visited the area and that he was attacking it, but Gin knew he was jumping to conclusions.

He wanted to boy to be able to protect himself enough to escape. So he focused more on bakudo and Toshiro loved it, he never worried like Gin did.

His lessons were few and far between because his limited time with Toshiro, but they were productive. Eventually they slipped into a sort of habit, Gin would come over and either they would spring off to the secluded section of the park or they would stay in Toshiro's room and just hang out. Gin silently admitted he preferred just aimlessly spending time with Toshiro, but he usually let the boy choose what they would do. Occassionly he showed Toshiro a few sword techniques, but refused to let Toshiro use any actual blades. He still let Toshiro touch Shinso when his sword wanted to have a conversation, but he didn't trust Toshiro with sharp things despite his growing age.

He admitted to himself that he was overprotective of the boy, but he really couldn't help it. He was so small for his age and looked fragile despite Gin's knowledge of the opposite. Shinso of course followed his sentiment and grew to care about the boy, his inner world had even developed a snowy area with a little frozen lake deep in the forest matching Toshiro's shockingly white hair.

Gin was content, life with Toshiro was exactly what he needed to escape his every day world and he was always scared it would somehow be taken away.

* * *

It was Toshiro's eleventh birthday and Gin was bringing him a book about Soul Society's history because the boy was constantly asking questions, his curiosity seemed almost endless. The moment he entered the world he felt something was wrong and fear like he'd never felt before rolled over him in waves. Toshiro's energy was fluctuating wildly and it seemed far stronger than usual. At the same time Gin sense multiple hollows in the area and he was filled with a sense of dread.

He shunpoed to Toshiro's location as quickly as he could and found him surrounded by hollows who were all trying to break the bindings Toshiro had placed on them. He yelled the boy's name before making quick work of them.

He stopped relieved to have defeated them, but when he landed he noticed something wrong a chain was hanging off the center of Toshiro's chest. He landed in front of the boy crouching down so he could look directly at his thankfully undamaged chain of fate. He couldn't have been dead for more than a day or two. "Toshiro, what happened?" his voice was thick and raspy, he felt something in his throat and found it difficult to speak.

The boy hugged him, "I was driving home with my mom and dad, but the car crashed and we got stuck in the snow. I was out there for a long time alone and it was so cold," Toshiro stopped, but Gin quickly realized the boy died of hypothermia.

"Okay, I got it," Gin said against the boy's head his arms still firmly circled around him. He didn't want Toshiro to be forced to relive it and Gin wasn't sure he could handle hearing it.

"Then I woke up and I had this chain like dead people do. I didn't know what to do, but I knew I wanted you to help me. So I started walking here, I don't know how I found it, but I did. Then the hollows came after me, I stopped them with kido and managed to get away, but they found me again. This time before they got me you showed up to save me. You've always been here for me Gin," Toshiro's voice was weak and muffled against Gin's chest.

"Because ahm a superhero, Shiro-chan," Gin tightened his grip. He was acting unlike himself, but he always allowed himself to be weak for Toshiro. Although this was probably the one time he truly needed to be strong.

"I thought it was because you were my best friend," Toshiro was forcefully trying to sound happy, but for once it wasn't working.

"Ah can be both," Gin tried to keep his voice light to keep some semblance of control, but his words sounded dead.

"Do I have to go to soul society now?" Toshiro asked pulling back, his voice was soft and resigned.

"Yeah and I'll help ya get there," Gin rested his forehead on top of Toshiro's own head.

"OK, but Gin," Toshiro phrased his words as a request.

"Yeah? Gin's hand hovered over Shinso.

"Promise you'll find me," Toshiro's voice held a certain type of unwavering authority that surprised Gin even in his broken state.

"You'll forget everything even me," Gin was defeated and he lost the forced accent and lilt his voice generally held. The idea that he'd find Toshiro only to see that he had no memory or interest in Gin was heartbreaking, despite that he knew he had to find Toshiro again.

"Still promise," Toshiro was still resolute.

"I promise I'll find ya Shiro-chan. There was never any other option," Gin said in a very serious voice opening his eyes wide to meet the smaller boy's watery gaze.

"Bye-bye Gin," Toshiro said softly slowly freezing tears still evident on his face. Gin found it hard to look at Toshiro, but he owed it to the boy to treat him like an equal at this moment.

"Bye-bye Shiro-chan, I'll see you again soon," Gin replied trying to reassure the boy and himself.

Before Toshiro could respond he performed konso and watched him disappear safely. He felt empty inside and left as abruptly as he came. He swore he would find Toshiro no matter what.

* * *

 **A/N**

Chapter 5 is complete and Toshiro has passed on, meaning the first arch of the story is complete and now we are entering soul society. Since I jumped through Toshiro's life a bit more quickly then I intended, I'll be introducing more flashbacks through the rest of the story than I was going to. Both as memories for Gin and slightly more hazy recollections for our poor Shiro.

I actually wrote this goodbye scene before I started the writing anything else, so I'm not sure if it flows as naturally as I'd like. I may do some editing later.

I'm sorry for the long wait and I hope you liked it, let me know what you think.


	6. Chapter 6

Gin yawned looking over the papers on his desk, he hated paperwork so he was rather careless with it. His captain should probably been annoyed, but he seemed more amused than anything else. It wasn't like Aizen was going to come down on him because he didn't focus on some paperwork, that was what the lower seats were for.

"Gin, you'll never believe what I found today," Matusmoto's voice filled his office and she stormed in a giant smile on her face. She was the only person with the ability to barge in to his office without a sword to their throat and she took advantage of that.

"Wha'd ya find Ran-chan?" His own permanent creepy smile turned into something a bit more real seeing the woman so excited.

"I found the cutest kid in rukongai," she practically squealed and Gin's mood immediately dropped. Every time people brought up children he found himself thinking of Toshiro and how he had continually failed to find him. It was something that had never stopped bothering him and the fact that he kept turning up empty-handed on his search killed him inside. His smile turned very bitter and he fought to keep himself from saying or doing something to completely give away his emotions.

Rangiku apparently missed his mood change and continue, "He had bright white hair and these beautiful teal eyes. Oh, and his spiritual pressure is huge." She squealed again and went on a little tangent that Gin ignored.

Gin felt his body tense and asked slowly, "What's his name?" Gin tried not to get too hopeful lest his disappoint himself, but the description sounded right and for once Gin had a good feeling.

"He never actually told me, but I found him in the first district," she launched into a story about smashing him over with her breasts. Gin remembered when he was asking for information in the first district the only remotely close thing he had gotten was a white haired demon. He felt stupid for not following up closely on that lead, but he assumed it was some myth. He tuned back in to Rangiku to hear, "I convinced him to try entering the Shinigami academy. I'll go visit sometime, but I'm still a bit upset that I never got his name," Rangiku frowned and Gin frowned along with her.

"Ah'll come with you, Ran-chan if that's fine," Gin said retaining his neutral tone, but internally his emotions were awry. He hoped desperately that he had found his Shiro-chan after all this time.

"Sure," Rangiku flounced away. She was a surprisingly perceptive woman and on any other day she would have noticed something was wrong with Gin, but she wasn't paying any attention which Gin was thankful for.

* * *

The first time Rangiku visited the boy Gin found himself feeling something very uncharacteristic for him, nervousness. He was more than nervous, he was scared. Scared that this boy might not be his Shiro-chan. He wasn't sure how much longer he could last if he got his hopes up too high, so he lied. He managed to convince Rangiku he was too busy to come, but he hoped she enjoyed herself.

When he learned later that night that the boy's name was Toshiro Hitsugaya he felt something in himself repair, maybe it was his heart.

Gin started to gather information and heard through the grapevine that some kid entered the academy partway through the year by the order of the head captain himself. The same kid flew through the courses and despite his age he was going to graduate in less than a year. He had beaten Gin's record and was labelled a genius. Gin was proud of Toshiro and cared very little about his record, it was never important.

Despite all his attempts Gin never managed to visit him during the months he was in school, but he casually made sure Rangiku kept him updated, she loved to talk about Toshiro which suited Gin just fine. He wondered if perhaps his fear of finding out that Toshiro was an entirely different person subconsciously kept him from visiting. He promised to himself that he'd go to the graduation ceremony, he mentioned to Rangiku that he'd like to see all the new Shinigami, but he couldn't care less about the rest of the new Shinigami. One way or another he was going to find Toshiro, he made a promise and a bit of fear wasn't going to stop him.

Walking in he caught a flash of white in the crowd and followed until he saw Toshiro standing a bit away from the crowd leaning against a wall watching everyone with his teal eyes slightly narrowed.

He turned and locked his eyes on Gin who was staring directly at him smiling widely. "You're Gin Ichimaru?" He asked he sounded slightly different than Gin remembered, but that laid in the tone he spoke in rather than his actual voice.

Gin froze and felt something coursing through his veins, "Yeah Shiro-chan it's me." He thought it would be impossible for Toshiro to remember him, but leave it to him to break the rules.

Toshiro's eyes fell into a slight glare, "First don't call me Shiro-chan," he frowned at the nickname. "Matsumoto mentions you often when she shows up to bother me and her description was quite accurate. She said you really wanted to meet me, is there a specific reason?"

Gin felt something inside him die when he realized Toshiro didn't recognize him, but he still couldn't chase away the happiness that he felt now that he found him again. He could hardly tell they were friends when he was still alive so as per his specialty he lied, "Ah just wanted ta meet the newest genius we're two of a kind."

Gin could see that Toshiro didn't quite believe him, clearly the boy retained his ability to see through his mask. Gin just decided to push forward before he could be questioned on that point, "So are ya excited ta be joinin' the Gotei 13?"

"I suppose," Toshiro mused, "It can't be worse than my time at the Academy, though I was glad to learn how to control my powers." Gin noticed the absence of a smile despite what should be considered a special day.

"Ya didn' enjoy it?" Gin asked, watching the boy's expression carefully.

Surprisingly the boy's expression didn't change much from the slight scowl he wore when he responded, "Being a young genius can alienate you from your peers, I assumed you would be able to relate."

"I jus' didn' care much bout friends o' anythin'," Gin shrugged. It was true, at that point in his life he didn't care much about most people, he still possessed that trait to a large extent.

Toshiro hummed in response, but his expression still didn't change.

"So ya really didn' have any friends?" Gin asked

He saw something haunted in Toshiro's eyes before he finally replied, "None to speak of. Why are you so fixated on that point, anyway?" Toshiro asked irritation finally creeping into his voice. Gin felt it was covering some pain, but in the eyes of everyone else he was hardly familiar enough with the boy to say anything.

"Sorry, Ah jus' dun like Ran-chan's favorite feelin' so bad," Gin shrugged lying flawlessly.

"I'm fairly certain you're lying, if you're trying to find a reason why I'm not as good as you despite breaking your record then I'm going to inform you that my social life does not relate to my abilities," Toshiro read the situation completely wrong, but he was able to tell Gin was lying which was impressive.

"No, Ah jus' dun want ya to be upset," Gin admitted finally being honest, "Sorry fo' offendin' ya."

Apparently reading the sincerity in his voice Toshiro let out a breath, "It's fine, I suppose I'm just a bit defensive."

The head captain called for the graduation ceremony to begin, but before Toshiro could walk away Gin added, "Good luck, Ah hope things are betta' fo' ya and ya make some friends."

Toshiro gave him an odd look before finally relaxing into something that was almost a smile and reply, "Thank you." He walked away to join the rest of his class leaving Gin smiling.

Gin watched him walk away not sure exactly how he felt, he fulfilled his promise he did find Toshiro, but he had changed. Whatever happened to him in this world affected his personality. Physically he hadn't changed much at all, in the time he'd been in soul society he had aged only a slight amount.

He was still small and scrawny, but his power had grown far greater and Gin was impressed despite himself. It felt weird to see him interacting with other people, Toshiro had been his own well-kept secret. He felt an odd sense of pride watching Toshiro graduate knowing he had been his first teacher, not that Toshiro could remember.

* * *

Once everyone had been seated and the commander gave a quick well practiced speech he stepped back allowing the headmaster to call the names of the students. The student body ranged from people of all ages and builds some where full grown adults and others were teens, but Toshiro was by far the youngest. He was also seated in the front row where the top ten students were sitting. The ceremony followed a pattern, the students were called in order of ranking and once they arrived on stage to be seen by their peers and the people attending the event the division they would be joining was announced. This announcement was done by the captain themselves, all of whom were required to attend along with their lieutenant to welcome their new recruits. Any other members of the squad were allowed and encouraged to attend, but only seated members could stand on stage. Gin would have preferred to remain in the crowd not bothering to stand with Aizen, but he grudgingly made his way on stage. Rangiku on the other hand was happy to stand up there with her superiors despite not needing to, her gaze was focused mainly on Toshiro.

As he had achieved the highest scores in every subject Toshiro was called first, but Gin was extremely upset at the reaction. It was expected that the students would clap or cheer for their peers, but they simply whispered about him and Gin could tell it wasn't complimentary. There was a bit of applause from the audience, but even that was extremely weak. Despite this Toshiro walked in front of the entire crowd with his head held high and Gin felt another rush of pride for him.

After a quick congratulations from the headmaster who seemed the only person from the Academy genuinely happy for Toshiro, he asked the question that would repeated many times, "What division will be recruiting this graduate?"

The relatively new captain of the tenth division, Isshin Shiba stepped forward, "Toshiro will be joining my division." Gin was relieved for a few reasons, first Isshin was a good guy, a bit goofy, but he'd treat Toshiro well. Second, he'd be with Rangiku and because he'd be with Rangiku, Gin would have reason to visit the tenth division and "accidentally" bump into Toshiro. The third reason was that he was away from Aizen and his supporters. He was so deep in his thoughts he almost didn't catch the rest of what Isshin said, "He will be filling in the currently vacant twelfth seat in my division, I believe his skills speak for themselves."

There was a moment of silence, even Gin was surprised. A student immediately taking a seated position was rare and if they did it was generally something like the twentieth seat shared with fifteen other men and women. Taking the position of twelfth seat alone for a student directly out of the Academy especially one who was so young was unheard of. Even Gin didn't get a seated position, although he did quickly move through the ranks to third seat after murdering the previous one.

Toshiro's response was a slight widening of his eyes in surprise which he quickly controlled, but the crowd was far less calm. The graduates immediately started talking amongst themselves even the teachers and members of the crowd started talking. Very few people were happy which was shown most clearly in a student who had been sitting near him. He stood up and declared, "This is ridiculous there is no way he should be allowed to take a seated position, the brat shouldn't have been allowed into the Academy in the first place."

Gin was disgusted a grown man was saying that about a child just because he was jealous he was ready to jump down there and slice him open, but paused when the Commander slammed his cane down. The noise brought silence to the room and allowed the Commander to speak, "I will not allow anyone to disparage a student simply because you aren't happy, he is a graduate of the Academy in good standing and that must be respected. If anyone has an issue it can address it to his new captain after the ceremony has been completed, but until then I demand you stop this nonsense."

After a minute things finally settled down and Toshiro took his position standing beside Rangiku who was glaring at the man who spoke up. Toshiro was quietly trying to calm her down which seemed very backwards. The same man who had yelled at Toshiro was called up as the sixth person and like Toshiro his reception was nearly silent. Though that was mainly because everyone was wary of drawing attention to themselves in relation to the man.

The headmaster seemed annoyed, but he asked, "What division will be recruiting this graduate?" A long silence hung in the air and just when it seemed no division had chosen him the ninth division captain, Kaname Tosen, stepped up, but instead of accepting him he replied, "Originally I had chosen to accept him into my division, but he has proven he isn't the type of person I want among my men. Hopefully another year at the Academy will give him some perspective on life."

He was escorted off the stage in shame and Gin felt himself grinning at the man's misfortune. For the rest of the ceremony he tuned out, spending his time watching Rangiku and Toshiro as new recruits slowly joined them.

* * *

 **A/N**

So chapter six is complete, we are now in Soul Society and Gin has been reunited with Toshiro. I considered having them meet earlier, but I liked the idea of Toshiro developing without Gin so he can see the differences. Now we can watch as Gin and Toshiro serve as Shinigami, since we don't know too much about the timeline of Toshiro's past I'll just manipulate things to my desire. Aside from the timeline I'll also be changing history in some ways which will make more sense later on.

Clarification: I currently have Rangiku as the third seat of the 10th division and Gin as the lieutenant of Aizen.

By the way nobody has to worry about me stopping this story, I may not update extremely quickly, but that's partially because I have other stories to write and I'm busy.

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you thought.


	7. Chapter 7

**Please Enjoy,**

* * *

Once the ceremony finally concluded people were allowed to start mingling again so the squad members could start to become acquainted with each other. Gin watched Toshiro quickly move away from the crowd, virtually ignoring his squad members. Seeing an opportunity he did much the same and followed the boy leaving Aizen and the graduates behind, he was fairly sure Aizen's fans wouldn't miss him. Gin noticed Toshiro seemed to be looking around for someone, but Gin wasn't entirely sure who it was.

"Shiro-chan, congrats on yo' new position," Gin said as a means of greeting. The boy immediatly focused his attention on Gin and seemed slightly suspicious of his congratulation.

"Apparently I don't deserve it," Toshiro rolled his eyes and Gin was pleased to see he didn't let the event affect him too much. Though Gin had to admit his own blood was still boiling at the mention of the man.

"Now don' go sayin tha', yer captain believes in ya," Gin waved off Toshiro's words.

"He doesn't really know me, we met briefly a few times, but it was hardly enough for him to develop any belief in my abilities," Toshiro seemed insistent on not accepting any positive comments. Gin wondered if his time in Rukongai damaged his self-confidence or self-worth.

"So go talk ta him, dun worry Ah'm sure he'll like ya," Gin gestured in the direction he thought the 10th was gathering.

Toshiro shook his head, "That's not the issue, I'm not concerned about how he'll react, but I'd rather stay away from the people who despise me for receiving the position. I'll speak to him later when I can get him alone, until then I'm going to avoid drawing too much attention to myself."

Gin didn't point out his looks and new position made him very noticeable regardless of what he did, but after seeing who was approaching he shrugged, "Tha' may be harder than ya think."

"Why?" Toshiro asked not sparing him a glance, instead he went back to silently searching the crowd.

"Cause Ran-chan's comin'," Gin pointed to the rapidly approaching woman out of Toshiro's line of sight.

"Wha-," before Toshiro could actually speak he was swept up into a hug from behind by Rangiku which did indeed draw attention from plenty of the males in the room who had been busy staring at her.

"So that's how you got your position," the same man who bothered Toshiro during the ceremony appeared with an ugly smirk, "You had this one whore herself out to the captain to convince him to give you a position."

Rangiku looked angry and Gin was sure his expression matched hers, but before either of them could say anything Toshiro extricated himself from Rangiku's arms and turned to face the man. Gin suddenly felt the temperature in the room drop and saw Toshiro's eyes flash, the boy fixed a glare on the older male and said in a deceptively even tone, "I'd take that back, if I were you and apologize to Rangiku."

"Or what?" The man blustered, but he looked slightly afraid of the ice that started spreading from underneath Toshiro's feet and approaching him.

Gin for his own part was fascinated with the power Toshiro was displaying, clearly he had an ice type zanpaktou. Gin wondered if he'd already fully discovered his Shikai this early or this was just unconscious.

Before Toshiro could actually make a threat a hand landed on his shoulder Gin glanced at the owner of the hand and quickly realized Captain Shiba noticed the disturbance. It was hard to miss, Toshiro was leaking spiritual pressure and plenty of people were staring at the scene.

"What's going on?" the captain asked in a calm voice resting his hand on Toshiro's shoulder.

Toshiro quickly reeled in his power, only bits of frost and cool air remained. He looked about ready to apologize, but Gin quickly cut in before he could say anything, "He was jus' defendin' Ran-chan's honor." He was quite proud of Toshiro and didn't want him to be sorry for defending Rangiku.

"Really?" Isshin asked raising an eyebrow at the retreating man, but made no move to go after him.

"Yes, he was standing up for me," Rangiku confirmed pulling Toshiro into another hug, " he's such a gentleman." Gin pretended to pout that he wasn't the knight in shining armor.

"Well we in the 10th division certainly value loyalty, so I can't fault you Toshiro. If anything I'm proud," Isshin confirmed and helped remove him from Ragiku's grasp much to her annoyance. Just as Toshiro gathered his breath and seemed to relax, Isshin pulled him for a hug of his own and swung him around suddenly taking on a much more childish tone, "I'm so happy you finally joined our division, you're so cute."

Gin hid his smile at the scene, the man insulting them had run off at the appearance of the captain leaving Rangiku and Isshin to fight over who got to hug Toshiro. Gin had a feeling they would be able to chase away Toshiro's loneliness and Gin wanted to play his own part.

"Put me down," Toshiro struggled until he finally was released. "Am I going to deal with this everyday?" He asked aloud, but not to any particular person.

"Yes," Rangiku and Isshin confirmed at the same time giving him a thumbs up. Gin noticed a grudging smile on Toshiro's face, though he tried to hide it.

"Whatever," Toshiro mumbled pointedly looking away. Suddenly it seemed to hit him that he was speaking to his captain and Gin quickly saw him dip into a bow and apologize for being so rude.

"It's fine, you can be open with me Toshiro," Captain Isshin patted him on the head gently, "I'm a cool captain." Matsumoto snorted, but tried to look innocent when Isshin glared at her.

"Regardless, I'm thankful that you took me into your squad and gave me the twelfth seat," Toshiro thanked him stiffly, but this time managed to refrain from bowing.

"No problem, you earned it," Isshin smiled, "and don't worry Rangiku and I will help you get settled."

As relieved as Gin was that Toshiro would be fine, he still felt slightly sad that he wouldn't get to be there all the time. Toshiro was his first, but he reassured himself that it was for the best. He couldn't bear if Aizen somehow got his claws into Toshiro, he made a silent pledge that he would protect him even if Toshiro was unaware he was being protected.

"Gin are you alright?" Rangiku knocked him from his thoughts.

"O' course, I was jus' thinkin' bout all the work I have ta do," Gin replied as an excuse.

"Just push it on someone else, that's what I do," Rangiku offered helpfully.

"Should you be admitting that in front of your captain?" Toshiro asked glancing between her and Isshin.

"Where do you think I got the idea?" She asked at Isshin who looked slightly guilty.

"Rangiku, you're ruining my image," Isshin whined while Toshiro silently observed the exchange, Gin could practically see his respect for his superiors melting away.

"Yo Toshiro," a voice called out and everyone followed the voice to a red haired boy with tattoos on his face who clearly just graduated.

"Renji," Toshiro crossed his arms, "Have you seen Momo?"

"She's busy with Captain Aizen," Renji answered.

"Ah," Toshiro looked annoyed, "I guess she forgot she was supposed to meet me back here after the graduation ceremony."

"Yeah she seemed a bit distracted," Renji supplied though Toshiro seemed to be slightly more annoyed by the answer, "She's hoping he'll talk to her."

"She's just hoping to speak to him? So she's not really busy, she's just standing around staring at him?" Toshiro asked his annoyance now showing in his voice.

"Uh, yeah I guess," Renji scratched the back of his neck, "If you want I can take you to where she is."

"That's fine," Toshiro seemed to be pulling his temper back, "I suppose it can't be helped, she's rather absentminded isn't she?"

"Um, okay," Renji didn't seem to know how to interact with the younger male, rather than make any further conversation he started to lead Toshiro to this Momo. Gin followed him with Rangiku and Isshin on his heels. They were the third seat and the captain, Gin was surprised they weren't more interested in getting to know the other recent graduates entering their squad.

* * *

They easily weaved through the crowd until Renji finally stopped in front of a group of people surrounding Aizen who was aimably chatting with them. Apparently Toshiro found whoever he was looking for because he took a few steps and over the noise called, "Oi Momo."

A girl turned and Gin recognized her as one of the top graduates, "Shiro-chan?" Gin felt an irrational flash of anger at hearing her calling him 'Shiro-chan' with such familiarity. He quickly swallowed the anger to stop it from showing and instead watched the exchange.

"Don't call me Shiro-chan, I've graduated from the academy and achieved Shikai I'm not a child anymore. You made a promise, besides I have a higher rank than you do," he sounded vaguely smug, but there was a slight undercurrent of something Gin couldn't place.

"Are you sure they should have given you that position?" Momo asked delicately, but Gin could see Toshiro was affected by her words far more than the man who questioned him before.

"What does that mean, Momo?" He asked frigidly.

"I mean, you're so young. Can you really handle it?" She asked and Gin could see her features turn into something doubtful and his anger flared up again.

"Momo, I was first in the class and just because I'm not old doesn't mean I'm not qualified for the position," Toshiro defended himself. Isshin looked like he was going to say anything, but seemed to decide to let them handle it without him.

"I'm just worried about you,"she admitted.

Toshiro seemed to relax a bit at that, "I know Momo, but you don't need to worry about me," he half smiled and added, "You should worry about remembering to keep promises like meeting me after graduation or not calling me Shiro-chan."

They continued to talk and Gin decided he hated the girl, partially because he found her annoying, but also because Toshiro seemed to like her so much. As far as Gin was concerned she was just another Aizen fangirl, but he did slowly remember her from the giant hollow incident Aizen orchestrated. He also realized that if she was in his division he would have to keep her from getting too close to Aizen for Toshiro's sake. He had a feeling it was going to be a big headache, but he wanted to do everything he could to protect Toshiro and this girl would be a liability if Aizen could use her.

"Toshiro you should come meet my captain," Momo looked excited, but Gin decided to shut that down.

"Captain Aizen wanted to spend today with his squad members new and old, you should probably meet him another time," Gin cut in before the subject could be pursued further.

"How would you know?" Momo asked and Gin decided the girl was either an idiot or wasn't paying attention to anything, but Aizen during the ceremony.

"I'm his lieutenant," was Gin's easy response and he shifted his arm so she could get a good look at his badge.

She flushed and apologized profusely, Gin decided to pretend it was perfectly fine despite his annoyance. Thankfully the tactic worked and Momo promised to introduce them another time as she chased after Aizen who was beginning to leave.

Finally things began to clear out and after a few quick goodbyes Toshiro followed Isshin and Rangiku back to his new division. Gin felt vaguely lonely, something he hadn't felt in a long time, but quashed the feeling and focused on the fact that he finally found Toshiro and he was going to be a shinigami.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Okay, so I know I haven't really posted in a while, but I basically stopped writing fanfiction this summer. Now that it's winding down I'm going to continue my stories.**

 **I edited the last chapter to correct the continuity of the story, I screwed up my timeline a bit and made a few mistakes. Honestly they don't matter much so if you've read the chapter already it shouldn't affect the story line, but for anyone who hadn't read it I felt I should make the corrections.**

 **Alright Toshiro has graduated, he's met his captain who will be playing a role in the story, and this is basically where I start messing with Bleach's actual story line rather than just my own background. However a few flashbacks to 'human Toshiro' will probably pop up.**

 **Thanks for reading and let me know what you think, also am I the only person who dislikes Momo?**


	8. Chapter 8

Gin was pleased that Toshiro seemed to be fitting into his role, though he was slightly less pleased by the fact that he didn't get to see Toshiro as much as he wanted. Still it was comforting to know his little Shiro-chan was relatively safe where Gin could keep an eye on him, ignoring the dangers that came with being a Shinigami. In the beginning it was clear that his squad members did hold some resentment towards Toshiro for receiving his position so easily, but over time they accepted it. Of course there were still Shinigami who seem to hold his age against him, but Toshiro's exemplary skills and hard work ethic forced them to keep silent.

It was more than being accepted by his squad that Gin noticed, he saw how quickly the upper seated members of the 10th division grew to love him, the top three members of the division practically treated him like family. Rangiku was enamored with the boy and Isshin proclaimed Toshiro his son. The 10th squad lieutenant, despite being notable for being quite serious, also somehow succumbed to Toshiro's awkward unintentional charm, becoming something of a grandfather figure. It was a recurring theme that despite being cold and somewhat surly people tended to like Toshiro almost unconsciously.

Once again Gin was happy for Toshiro, happy that he found something of a family, but Gin constantly asked himself where he fit in the equation. He saw Toshiro as often as possible, always offering to go to the 10th division when someone from his squad needed to be sent and went to see Rangiku whenever he could. This also had the benefit that he and Rangiku managed to reclaim some of the close bond they had while they were younger. They'd been drifting apart mostly from his involvement with Aizen, but he was trying to make strides with her without bringing her or Toshiro into danger.

His only problem was how different Toshiro had become. He was a bit colder and harder due to the Shinigami originally disliking him, the pain he'd endured after being shunned in Rukongai, and his troubles in the academy which Gin never fully learned about. Gin missed the personality Toshiro had when he simply knew him as Shiro-chan. Now that brightness he always had was hidden under a layer of ice, he was far more mature due to taking on so much responsibility while so young. It ppained Gin that Toshiro lost the innocence Gin had loved. Still that was part of growing up and Gin was hardly going to blame Toshiro for his situation and development.

The annoying job he took up was watching over Momo, he really disliked the girl her attitude just rubbed him the wrong way, but he could see that Toshiro cared about her which only furthered to annoyed him. He made it his job to keep her away from Aizen as much as possible and tried to direct her to Toshiro as best he could to keep them close and keep Aizen's grip off her. Aizen of course didn't fail to notice Gin's focus on the girl and eventually called him out on it.

Gin considered himself one of the few people who could read Aizen to an extent, even if only slightly, so he saw it coming when Aizen finally asked, "Why do you seem so interested in Hinamori? My original plan was to convince her to fanatically follow me, but you're getting in the way of it, any particular reason?" His tone was light, but Gin knew danger when he was confronted with it.

"Aizen-Taicho Ah jus' figured Ah'd take Momo-chan and give ya Kira, he's easy 'nough ta control," Gin answered with a vague gesture, "Plus messin' with Momo is easy. Kira's a bit of a sad sack. I dun wan ta' make him mah lieutenant when Ah'm a captain."

Aizen had sight smirk on his lips when he answered, "Fine, just make sure you can control her, it won't matter for a while, but I want to plant the seeds of my plans."

"O' course, Aizen-Taicho," Gin responded his grin set firmly in place. Seeing that as the end of the conversation he made his way off to the market to escape Aizen.

* * *

Gin hadn't been by the tenth division in a few days so when he walked by and saw a few Shinigami moving furniture into the Captain's office he was quite surprised. The tenth division was slightly unpredictable considering its current leader, but he hadn't known they were doing some refurbishing. Everything had been altered when Isshin first took over. Generally things only changed when a new Captain was chosen, but he knew Isshin was still in charge. He followed the men through and was once again surprised when he realized they had removed one of the walls connecting two of the rooms.

Isshin originally had his own office and in the adjacent room Rangiku and the lieutenant Daiki worked together. Everyone knew that was partially so Daiki could watch Rangiku to make sure she worked, but it was never explicitly stated. However now the rooms were connected and a fourth desk was being placed near Isshin's. From behind him, on the other side of the door he could hear Isshin speaking excitedly, "Toshiro I have a surprise for you." Gin could imagine him gesticulating wildly to the boy who would likely roll his eyes, but unconsciously smile.

The door flew open before Gin could move so Isshin almost pushed Toshiro directly into him, Toshiro just dryly commented, "Is Ichimaru supposed to be the surprise? He's here often enough to be part of the division."

"Ah keep tellin' ya ta call me Gin," Gin responded automatically his signature smile brightening slightly. He fought to keep himself from ruffling the boy's messy white hair.

"And I keep telling you not to be so familiar," Toshiro walked by, but Gin swore he saw the faintest of smirks on his face. Toshiro paused when he finally took in the decor of the room, "What exactly is this?" He didn't sound hostile or annoyed, simply confused which was rare.

"The surprise is that now we can all work together you, me, Daiki, and Rangiku. Aren't you happy, you don't have to be separate from your Daddy ever again," Isshin sounded extremely proud.

Toshiro just blushed slightly in embarrassment and mumbled something. Isshin just gave him a fond smile, different from his usual wild happiness and pulled him into a light hug. Toshiro for once didn't attempt to pull away, but Gin could see he tried to retain some pride by not fully hugging back. Gin stood slightly back from the scene nothing more than observer and once again he was struck with jealously though it was accompanied by happiness for Toshiro. He fought away any negative emotions and instead adopted a smile congratulating them on their new arrangement before moving to excuse himself. He was stopped by Toshiro's voice, "Ichimaru, are you alright?"

"What d'ya mean Shiro?" Gin asked wondering if the boy managed to catch the momentary crack in his mask. He wouldn't be too surprised even when he was a child he was extremely perceptive of Gin's emotions in a way nobody else could be.

"You seem conflicted?" Toshiro seemed to be considering his words even as he spoke leaving the end result as something closer to a question than a statement. Of course he was entirely correct, most of Gin's feelings about Toshiro tended to be conflicted.

"Course not Shiro, Ah'm jus' fine," Gin lied flawlessly, but based on Toshiro's reaction he thought that his acting might not be up to its usual par.

Toshiro gave him a look that clearly meant he didn't believe Gin, but he simply replied, "Fine, excuse my asking."

"No it's okay, Ah'm glad ya worry 'bout lil' ol' me," Gin was actually touched, but he wasn't sure he could admit that.

"Don't get a big head, Ichimaru. I just got a feeling, but if you say you're fine then I guess you're fine," Toshiro shrugged carelessly and turned back around to view the room, allowing the conversation to fade away comfortably.

"Thanks Toshiro," Gin said sincerely and although he said it quietly by Toshiro's slight movement he was almost positive the smaller male heard him, but he made no move to respond. With that Gin actually took his leave allowing Toshiro to get situated in his new environment.

He was a possessive person, he wouldn't deny it, but he cared deeply about Toshiro so he didn't berate himself for it. He was just hoping they'd soon grow close enough that he wouldn't feel jealous every time someone got close to Toshiro.

* * *

Gin didn't get to visit the tenth division for over a week, but eventually he was able to slip in without it seeming obvious. He came across Toshiro sitting at his desk filling out paperwork at an impressive speed. Although Toshiro was now a devoted worker and was incredibly efficient it was hard for Gin not to see a young Toshiro complaining about homework because all he wanted to do was play with Gin:

 _"Gin, I'm so bored I just wanna play with you," Toshiro complained slightly. Gin had managed to sneak in during the day rather than at night so Toshiro was actually slightly busy._

 _Gin smiled at the fact that Toshiro wanted to spend time with him, but decided to joke with the nine year old, "I thought you wanted to be a genius, don't you know that to be a genius you have to work harder than everyone else?" That wasn't necessarily true considering Gin's lack of worth ethic, but Toshiro didn't need to think he could slack._

 _Toshiro rolled his eyes and explained it as if Gin didn't quite get something, "I'm being a genius because of you, if it stops us from being together then what's the point of it?"_

 _Toshiro managed to bring out one of Gin's few true smiles, and he decided he agreed he rather spend time with Toshiro than anything else so he replied, "Ah get it. Jus' finish the Math an' then we can do whateva' ya want._

 _Toshiro cheered quietly to keep his parents from coming in and attacked the homework with renewed vigor. Gin comfortably listening to the sound of pencil scraping against paper. He briefly wondered if he was given the option would he stay with Toshiro forever would he take it._

* * *

Gin never quite answered that question and now was trying to reconcile his memories of a Toshiro that he was close with to the current form of the young male. He knew the 'Shiro-chan' he watched grow up was always going to have a place in his heart, but the Toshiro in front of him was someone almost entirely new. The more he watched the more similarities he saw in slight habits, but he also found more differences. The young Shinigami in front of him was someone he could respect and someone whose company Gin actually enjoyed, which was far different than how he felt about the general population. A small smile rose to his lips at how Toshiro was so invested in his work he hadn't even noticed Gin or the small smudge of ink on his cheek.

Just as Gin's smile started to grow at how cute Toshiro still was Toshiro seemed to notice his presence. He glanced up briefly and asked without a smile, "Are you smiling because I'm being overwhelmed by work?"

Gin frowned slightly, "Ya usually dun complain Shiro, how much ya got?" Toshiro very rarely admitted he was having any type of trouble and certainly not to anyone besides his captain or vice-captain.

"I have my usual work, but I somehow ended up with Rangiku's because she skipped out, Isshin-taicho's because he has a captain's meeting, and Daiki-fukitaicho is ill. Since I work in the safe office as them I ended up taking on their work," Toshiro hadn't stopped writing as he spoke and Gin's frown deepened.

"Nobody can expec' ya ta do all tha' work, even if you are the best and brightest Shinigami produced in ages," Gin tried to reason with him. Nobody would actually force any member to take on so much work and if they did it would most likely be on the next highest seat which would either be Rangiku or the fourth seat if Rangiku managed to stay out of sight. The work wouldn't go down to the twelfth seat simply because they shouldn't be trusted with documents meant for a Captain.

Toshiro finally stopped for a moment to lock eyes with Gin, his gaze was fierce and his eyes were serious it froze Gin in place, "I was given the twelfth seat despite my age and experience which brought about rumors, then I moved into the same room as the captain rather than a higher seat for as far as anyone is concerned no actual reason. Do you honestly think people don't talk about me?" Gin didn't answer and Toshiro continued in a serious tone, "If I don't do everything in my power to prove myself than everyone who doubts me will be correct and I'll fail not only the division, but also myself. I can't let that happen, I just can't. Being a genius means I have to work harder than everyone else."

Toshiro's shoulders slumped slightly after his slight speech which left Gin feeling inexplicably angry. He was angry that so much pressure was being on Toshiro, angry that people still talked about him behind his back, and most of all he was angry that he couldn't do as much as he would like about it. He sighed and got his emotions in check before finally saying, "Fine, fine I get it ya hav' ta be a tough guy, but Ah'm helpin' ya even if ya dun want it." Without waiting for a response Gin grabbed a chair and sat himself next to Toshiro at the slightly too small desk, their shoulders almost touching.

Toshiro looked like he was about to protest, but Gin quickly started working without permission. He hummed a toneless tune as they fell into a quiet routine that vaguely reminded Gin of the times he tried tutoring Toshiro. Gin wasn't sure how much time passed before they finally finished, but once they finally stopped he noticed Toshiro giving him a strange look. "What were you humming, I feel like I've heard it before."

Toshiro used to hum while he worked, Gin was just replicating what he'd heard Toshiro do while he was alive, it'd become a habit he adopted. He didn't expect Toshiro to recognize it in any form. "It was nothin'," Gin wasn't sure what to say.

"Never mind then, I just felt like I'd heard it in a dream of a dream if that makes any sense," Toshiro sounded confused at his own words.

"Ah got it," Gin wasn't sure if he should encourage Toshiro to try remembering things or let the subject drop, but he didn't have a choice because Toshiro quickly changed the topic.

"Thank you for helping me, you didn't need to do that," Toshiro thanked him almost grudgingly and Gin found himself smiling.

"Ah didn' mind it," Gin shrugged before adding in a more sincere tone, "If ya ever need help jus' come ta me, okay Shiro?"

"Ichimaru I-," Toshiro began and Gin could tell he was planning on rejecting the offer, but Toshiro paused and after a sigh he gave Gin a small smile and instead replied, "Alright if I'm ever in trouble I'll come to you, Gin." Gin silently was extremely happy that he wasn't being called Ichimaru. Toshiro paused for another moment before adding in an apologetic tone, "I've kept you for a long time, I hope I didn't stop you from doing anything you needed to get done."

"Nah, I jus' made mah third seat do all tha work so Ah could come ova'," Gin laughed at Toshiro's dark expression.

Toshiro grabbed a pillow off the couch next to him and flung a pillow at Gin, "Gin, go do your work."

Gin cackled as he ran out of the room before yelling back, "Ah dun' really like mah third seat so everythin's fine."

"Go," Toshiro yelled again. Gin paused once he was was back in the hallway allowing himself a moment to laugh, in that instant everything was right in the world.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Alright another chapter down. I feel pretty good about this chapter , but I'm not sure how the last part come out. I liked the premise, but it felt clumsy when I finally wrote it out. I don't know. Please let me know what you guys think about the story. Thanks for reading.**


	9. Chapter 9

Gin carried a stack of papers to the captain's office of the tenth division mainly with the intent of visiting Toshiro, but he was mildly surprised when he didn't see anyone. You could almost always count on someone being present in the office be it the captain, vice captain, Rangiku, or Toshiro who constantly seemed to be working. He'd felt something was strange since he arrived at the division's barracks, things seemed subdued and just a touch too quiet. It would have been concerning to most people though Gin had simply ignored it, but now that he considered Toshiro's possible involvement he decided it was worth his time to investigate.

He simply grabbed the first person he came across, an unseated division member who was obviously scared of him, and asked, "Whas' goin' on?" He didn't specify, but he made a vague gesture and figured if something was wrong it would be apparent what he was talking about.

The man shook slightly at Gin's presence and the hand gripping his shoulder just a bit too tightly, but managed to answered, "There was a problem on a mission, it was supposed to be simple, but a ton of hollows seemed to appear out of nowhere, we're still not sure how it happened it was like a trap. Almost the entire team was destroyed."

Gin felt a terrible sense of foreboding, "Who was on tha' mission?" There was no logical reason to assume Toshiro was on that specific mission, but he briefly remembered Rangiku mentioning that Toshiro would be heading out soon to the forests where there had been strange hollow activity.

"The eighth seat, the twelfth seat, and a group of new recruits," he replied sounding upset, but all Gin registered was that the twelfth seat was on the mission. His Toshiro was on a mission gone wrong, a mission where Shinigami died.

"Who was killed?" Gin asked losing a bit of his cool demeanor and letting out just a hint of his desperation. He knew that Toshiro was strong and resourceful, if anyone was going to survive it would be him, but he couldn't help his fear. He honestly didn't want to imagine what he would do if Toshiro was dead.

"Our eighth seat and most of the new recruits," the younger man replied his eyes downcast, so he missed Gin's look of relief which probably shouldn't have been present when hearing about people dying, but Gin didn't care. He'd rather half the division die than let Toshiro get injured. He barely realized the other male hadn't finished speaking, "Our twelfth seat Hitsugaya managed to rally the rest of the recruits and finish the mission, but he's taking it hard. I think sometimes we all forget how young he is because he works so hard, I don't think he's been on a mission where anyone died. He's still in the 4th healing up, if you were here to see the captain or vice-captain they're probably still with him."

Gin didn't bother saying goodbye or thank you, he just nodded before rushing to the 4th division. He caught his breath and calmed himself before stepping through the doors and asking not too politely where Toshiro was. He probably didn't need to ask because from the moment he stepped in he could feel angry fluctuations of reitsu that he knew belonged to Toshiro. Although from the powerful force he could tell Toshiro wasn't majorly hurt he was worried about how he was mentally dealing with the situation.

* * *

Gin was fairly sure Toshiro didn't have much experience with death at least not as a spirit, the closest thing Gin could remember was when Toshiro was still a child:

 _Gin had managed to slip out of Soul Society and he planned to visit Toshiro for the night before he had to sneak back, hopefully without getting caught. The window was surprisingly closed, but he hadn't let Toshiro know he was coming so it wasn't shocking. Thankfully he had very little trouble getting into Toshiro's room though he was surprised at what he found._

 _Toshiro who had turned 7 just a few months ago was whistling at a caged bird who was happily chirping back. Rather than say anything he just listened to Toshiro and the bird continue their little song back and forth. Gin stopped himself from laughing, but couldn't repress the smile at the scene, the bird was fluttering around and Toshiro seemed to be trying to mimic it almost hopping in place. Deciding that he wanted to find out what was going on he decided to announce his presence, "Shiro-chan Ah came ta' visit."_

 _Toshiro jumped a little bit and his bird made an odd noise, but by the time Toshiro turned around his bright little smile was on full force. He launched into a hug that nearly sent Gin sprawling and immediately started babbling about his bird, "I got a singing bird, it's a robin and he's really cute. We like to sing together and he can fly around, but I have to watch him."_

 _Gin could tell Toshiro was going to launch into one of his little rants so Gin tried to interrupt with a question, "Did ya name 'im?"_

 _Toshiro looked excited to tell Gin the name and proudly replied, "I named him Maru because your last name is Ichi-maru. Cool right?" Gin remembered when Toshiro couldn't pronounce his last name a few years back._

 _Gin wasn't sure how Toshiro kept managing to surprise him, but he felt flattered and when he responded he was being honest, "Thanks Shiro, Ahm glad ya thought o' me."_

 _"I always think about you, you're my best friend, Gin," Toshiro flashed him another blinding smile and apparently Maru didn't like being ignored because he began chirping again to get some attention._

 _Gin would later admit that he and Maru had one trait in common, they were both possessive of Toshiro. When Maru was awake during his visits he sat on Toshiro's shoulder and although he shouldn't have been able to sense Gin the bird seemed to flutter to block Gin whenever he got too close to Toshiro. Thanklfully most of the time he was asleep in his cage covered by a sheet and couldn't follow them outside when they left the house._

 _"Gin next time you come Maru and I are going to put on a show for you, okay?" Toshiro called out to Gin as he left one night and Gin nodded back promising he would listen._

 _A few days before Gin next went to visit Toshiro he "procured" a Hell Butterfly and forced a member from the 12th division make some mild changes so he could record Toshiro's concert and listen to it whenever he wanted. It worked and as he watched Toshiro and Maru sing their bird songs the butterfly silently recorded the sounds which he would often play when he was alone._

 _It wasn't until almost a a year and a half later that there was a problem, he visited as usual, but Toshiro was sitting on his bed staring at the floor. From his place on the window sill Gin could see tears leaking down his face. "Shiro," Gin said lightly not entirely sure what to say because although he could obviously see Toshiro was upset he didn't know what was wrong._

 _"He's dead Gin," Toshiro's voice was hoarse and quiet, clearly he'd been sobbing for quite some time before Gin had arrived, "Why did he have to die?" He finally looked up at Gin and made eye contact, "Why, Gin? Did I let Maru die?" Gin couldn't believe Toshiro would even consider that it was his own fault Maru died, he was extremely dedicated to his winged friend._

 _Gin sighed knowing he really shouldn't be the one to comfort the child, this was a job for almost anyone else. Gin sighed before he spoke carefully, "Shiro, everythin' has ta' grow old an' pass on. Okay, Shiro so dun' blame yo'self. If it makes ya feel betta' Ah promise, Ah'll neva' leave ya."_

 _"You won't leave me alone?" Toshiro asked hiccuping slightly as he tried to wipe his tears away. Gin wiped a few stray ones that Toshiro missed and nodded his head hoping he would be able to keep the promise._

 _"Ah'll always be here," Gin responded stroking Toshiro's hair lightly as the boy leant against him. They spent most of the night in that position and eventually Toshiro slipped into sleep. Gin made sure to stop by the next night and give Toshiro the Hell Butterfly with Maru's song, Toshiro considered it one of his treasures and because his parents couldn't see it the Butterfly was allowed to roam his room freely._

* * *

After Toshiro died Gin took the butterfly back with him and hid it away in his room alongside the gifts Toshiro had given him and what he'd taken after Toshiro's passing. He still occasionally let the butterfly loose and listened to Maru and Toshiro's song. Gin pulled himself away from his memories and listened to the voices on the other side of the door. Clearly he missed most of the conversation, but he managed to catch a few snippets most of which sounded like arguing. Before Gin could step into the room Toshiro opened the door and stormed out, angrily biting out, "Thanks for the promotion."

Toshiro passed by Gin without any acknowledgement, but Gin wasn't particularly offended. A male's voice followed him out, "Please, Toshiro come back."

Gin looked into the room and saw Isshin and Rangiku looking helplessly at the door Toshiro just stormed out of. Gin was about to speak, but thought better of it and after glancing at the injured Shinigami started to turn to walk away. Before he'd actually followed Toshiro he was stopped by a voice. "Gin, can you try talking to him?" Rangiku asked knowing they had some form of camaraderie, "A mission he was on went wrong and he needs to talk out his problems. I think he should hear from someone outside our division, someone removed from the situation."

He nodded at his old friend before trailing Toshiro, who wasn't bothering to reign in his reitsu. The white haired male was sitting on a rooftop staring off to nowhere. Based on Toshiro's usual cool attitude and demeanor most people would assume he'd handle anything quite well, but his division member was correct, he really was still young.

"How're ya holdin' up?" Gin asked, knowing Toshiro had sensed him before he arrived so greetings weren't necessary. It was probably a stupid question considering the anger and sadness mingling in his eyes and his dark expression.

Toshiro didn't really answer his question instead he replied, "I know I shouldn't be this emotional, we're Shinigami and we know something like this could happen at any time. Shinigami dying in battle is expected, but watching people under my command die makes it so much more real. Once the eighth seat was dead, I was in charge and anyone who died is my fault," Toshiro just sounded defeated and Gin couldn't bear to hear him speak like that.

"Losing people hurts, but all you can do is remember them and try to do better in the future," Gin spoke slowly and as clearly as he could trying to impart how important this was, "Don't be paralyzed by loss, just become stronger."

"You aren't the type to offer useless platitudes so, I'm guessing you're speaking from experience?" Toshiro asked finally looking at him.

"Yeah," Gin knew he was the one who sounded hurt and he really shouldn't, the person he lost was sitting right by his side, but he'd never been able to tell anyone about what happened to Toshiro. "Was this the firs' time ya watched someone die?"

"No," he stated in a voice so cold that Gin shivered slightly. Whatever happened wasn't something that Gin felt he should pry about, at least not now. Toshiro stood up and looked down at Gin who wasn't sure how helpful he was being, "Ichimaru, thank you for coming to speak to me. I think it helped."

"What did Ah do?" Gin didn't think he'd done much to help, his advice was from the heart, but Gin wasn't good at emotionally connecting with people. It usually fell flat and people assumed he was mocking them. To be fair he often was, but in Toshiro's case it was always different.

"You did enough," was Toshiro's simple reply before he continued, "Now I need to make some apologies for getting upset."

"Why'd ya get mad at 'em?" Gin asked moving to stand as well.

"Because I was offered the eighth seat and I don't think I should get a promotion for letting a comrade die, if I was better then I could have done more. It's like everyone was proud of me for finishing the mission, but all I can think about if how I failed," Toshiro explained, "still it isn't his fault and I can't blame anyone else."

"Shiro, don't blame yo'self fo' anythin'. Ya did yo' best and ya only got angry cause o' yo' big heart. Dun' lose that heart," Gin said just before Toshiro launched into Shunpo. Gin wasn't entirely sure if Toshiro was going to take his advice, but he knew Toshiro was more than strong enough to deal with this. He himself was a lost cause, a hollow person who was long past redemption, but Toshiro was still full of light and Gin didn't want that dampened by pain.

He thought for a moment he heard Toshiro's voice on the wind saying, "Thank you, Gin." He wasn't sure so rather than question it he decided to listen to Maru's song again.

The next time he went to check on Toshiro he was informed that he wasn't around because he'd been training almost nonstop since the incident. Apparently he was, "Simply trying to become stronger." Gin half smiled when he watched Toshiro on the training grounds, but chose not to interrupt him. This was something he needed to do without interference.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Yes, I've been gone forever and I'm sorry, but hey I posted a new chapter. Honestly I'm not entirely sure where this chapter came from, but it does move the story a bit and I threw in a little story about Toshiro having a bird... not sure where that came from either. I kept having trouble writing dialogue for Gin, I have to try and keep it consistent without his accent getting out of control. I feel out of practice with this story, I hope it turned out alright.**

 **Next chapter will hopefully move the story forward a bit.**

 **Let me know what you thought and thanks for reading.**

 **The next chapter definitely won't take as long so don't worry, this story isn't dead.**


	10. Chapter 10

Gin never particularly cared about time, at least in the standard sense. As a Shinigami he was nearly immortal so there was no need to worry about aging for at least another 100 years. He tended to measure time in relation to events so for a long portion of his life, time seemed stagnant because he skated by never affected by the world around him. However whenever he was with Toshiro time seemed to speed up because the boy was constantly doing something new or achieving a goal he set for himself. He was a storm that seemed intent on dragging Gin along and Gin was fine being carried by that freezing wind, anything to feel alive.

Gin waltzed into one of Seireitie's market places and stumbled across Toshiro eating takiyoki from a vendor in what he could only describe as an aggressive manner. He was honestly surprised to see Toshiro out of the office midday, as the boy generally ate lunch in his division. Toshiro seemed to notice him a few moments after Gin had and approached him without hesitation. Normally Gin would be happy that Toshiro was so quick to go to him, but the white haired 5th seat seemed agitated in a way that extended beyond his usual frustration at his workload and co-workers.

Before Gin could ask what was wrong Toshiro demanded, "Ichimaru, did you ever have to teach at the academy?"

The question was out of the blue, but Gin answered, "O' course Shiro, afta' ya hit fifth seat ya gotta teach at leas' one class fo' a semesta'." Gin was too confused to remind Toshiro not to call him Ichimaru, but he considered it a plus that he wasn't being referred to as Vice-captain again, that had taken a lot of work.

"I'm aware of the rules, but I thought if anyone could avoid doing the work it'd be you," Toshiro explained, "or Matsumoto," he added as an afterthought.

"Well, Ah only taught fo' one day, afta' that they banned me," Gin explained with a careless shrug as if being banned from the academy Shin'o academy wasn't important.

"How did you do it?" Toshiro actually looked excited at the prospect of being banned from teaching any more.

"Ahm not meant ta be a teacha', Ah guess," Gin just grinned thinking back to how he terrorized the Shinigami in the making, "Mah style mighta' been ova' the top and violent." Toshiro rolled his eyes at Gin's sadistic grin.

"Do you think there is a way I can reproduce your results and avoid teaching?" Toshiro sounded slightly hopeful and Gin fought off a smile.

"Why're ya so agains' teachin'?" Gin wondered if he had bad memories of the academy or something to that effect.

Toshiro mumbled something and flushed slightly.

"Yer, gonna need ta' be a bit louda', Shiro," Gin felt a true smile breaking through, Toshiro could really be adorable sometimes.

Toshiro huffed before carefully responding, "My students are a bit," he paused for a moment, "unruly?" It came out like a question and left Gin even further confused.

"Unruly?" Gin intoned not entirely sure what that was supposed to mean. The age range for academy students varied greatly because one could join at any age once they passed the entrance exam which people frequently failed and retook. He doubted the older students would be extremely disruptive, he was slightly worried that maybe people were disrespecting Toshiro because of his age. He was a fifth seat and deserved all the respect that came with the title; if anyone, student or not, was bothering him Gin was planning on destroying them.

"Some of the students are making unwanted advances," Toshiro finally admitted and Gin froze for a moment before bursting out in laughter. He was nearly literally frozen by Toshiro who immediately became annoyed at him. "Sorry, Shiro," Gin tried to get his laughter under control, "Ah didn' realize ya were so popula'."

Toshiro was blushing, but the red on his face didn't match his flaring icy reiatsu which was beginning to draw attention. Gin sobered immediately and quickly whispered, "Get ya'self unda' control, Shiro." It wouldn't do to have the entire area frozen just because he was teasing Toshiro and he knew that lack of self-control would upset Toshiro more than what Gin was saying.

Toshiro quickly realized the problem and reigned in his reiatsu before shunpoeing to the rooftops. Gin assumed he was meant to follow him so he trailed behind the younger genius until they were in a more secluded spot in the nearby woods.

Toshiro started speaking the moment the two touched down on the grass, "The problem isn't just the students making advances, everyone is unprofessional and it's honestly insulting."

"Shiro, ya mighta been a top notch studen', but not everyone can be like ya. They're probly' jus' as bad in otha classes," Gin responded relaxing slightly, "but if ya wan' I'll go ta nex' class unda' cova' an watch."

He was happy to hear Toshiro laugh slightly, "Under cover?"

Gin nodded in response and added, "ya jus' gotta show em whose boss."

"I can't hurt them," Toshiro gave him a wary look, assuming the worst.

"No, jus' flare yer reiatsu. Ya seemed happy ta do it in public befo'," Gin reminded of his incident in the market just minutes ago. Toshiro huffed, slightly annoyed, but nodded his head.

Gin was fairly happy with the interaction, Toshiro was rarely so open with him and he certainly wasn't the first person Toshiro turned to when he had problems. He considered it a step in the right direction.

* * *

 _Gin was always fascinated at Toshiro's love of his school. His own memories of the academy, however fleeting they might be, weren't nearly as positive. He made no attempts to make friends and because he moved through the curriculum so quickly he never actually shared a class with Rangiku. He was just the creepy genius who scared anyone who dared get too close._

 _Toshiro on the other hand seemed to love everyone and wanted to be loved in return hence his constant babbling about his school life which Gin had to fight himself not to be jealous of._

 _"...and then I went on the swings with my friends and then played tag and then we went back to class and then we did math, which I usually don't like, but the teacher let me answer a question on the board and I was right and then," Toshiro was speeding through his words without taking a breath and Gin felt the need to stop him before he ran out of air._

 _"Anythin' goin' on outsida' school?" Gin asked gently as the boy took a few breaths before launching into another story as he snuggled up against Gin on his bed. Gin ran his hand through the boy's hair as he listened to the adventures of a human child._

 _This domesticity was what he was living for and willing to fight for._

* * *

Two days later Gin found himself in the back of the classroom watching students file into the room, he received some weird looks, but his glares were enough to keep the students from actually bothering him. He hear whispering and was able to catch a few words from different students:

 _The teacher's cute_

 _He's a shrimp_

 _I can't believe he's a fifth seat_

 _Shouldn't he be in the academy_

 _I wonder what his zanpakuto is_

 _What can he even teach us_

Gin found himself growing annoyed, but the whispers tapered off as Toshiro walked in with a frown on his face, his eyes scanned the room and landed on Gin for only a few moments longer than the rest of the students, but it was assurance that he knew Gin was watching.

Gin watched as the lesson proceeded and he saw what Toshiro meant, the students weren't paying attention. Granted a class on kido that didn't involve practical application was a bit dry, but he was still fascinated by Toshiro's teaching. He was remarkably confident when he spoke and had an air of self-assuredness, but Gin could sense the fluctuations in his reiatsu that indicated his emotional state didn't completely match his calm exterior. He doubted any students noticed, but he could slowly sense Toshiro growing annoyed at the lack of attention and the whispering that wouldn't stop.

Gin wasn't sure exactly what made Toshiro snap, but one moment he was writing something on the board and the next he whirled around to face the class. "Enough," he growled and Gin wasn't sure if he was imagining the reverberation of his inner dragon in his voice. The class froze in surprise and stopped moving altogether when Toshiro raised his reiatsu to the point where he was crushing the weaker students. Gin knew he pushed Toshiro to exert his will over the class, but he wasn't sure if he liked this Toshiro.

"While I am in charge I expect you to listen to me," he glared as if waiting for a response. He lowered his reaitsu and pointed at the door, "Class is being let out early, leave now." Once the class filed out, he sank into his seat in front of the teacher's desk and stared blankly at his desk. He began to speak as Gin slowly walked to the front of the room, "I overdid it, didn't I. They're terrified of me now." He laughed bitterly and Gin realized his mistake.

Gin didn't particularly care if people were scared of him, but Toshiro under all his layers of ice was truly an emotional being and wanted to be accepted. Trying to scare a class into submission was a horrible suggestion, and Toshiro trusted him enough to try it. He failed him, once again. He claimed to know Toshiro and still he made such stupid mistakes, Toshiro wasn't a mini version of himself, he was so much better.

"Shiro," Gin began carefully.

He was interrupted as Toshiro continued to speak as if he didn't notice Gin, "When I looked at them, I felt like I was back in Rukongai surrounded by people who whispered behind my back. Now history has repeated itself and they all hate me too."

"Toshiro," Gin tried to be firm, "they dun' hate ya."

"Gin, everyone seems to hate me," Toshiro looked at him displaying a rare type of vulnerability and for a moment he could see a scared child in front of him, not the serious shinigami he wanted so desperately to be seen as.

"Well Ah dun hate ya, so thas' a start," Gin rested a hand on his shoulder trying to convey some type of support.

Toshiro managed a small smile, "Yeah I guess that's a start."

"Maybe jus' try gettin' along with em," Gin offered, "Ah couldn' do it, s'not mah personality, but everyone hates me an' Ah'm fine with tha'." Gin didn't catch his almost word for word repitition of Toshiro's earlier statement.

"Well I don't hate you, so that's a start," Toshiro repeated Gin's words before smirking and walking out of the classroom.

"Ah guess it is," Gin watched him walk out and waited a few minutes before leaving the silent classroom.

* * *

The next time Gin saw Toshiro he was walking with a few of his students, Gin saw their smiles and decided that this time Toshiro didn't need any help. He was happy to see the boy could get by without him, but he was a bit depressed that Toshiro seemed to be better off without his meddling. Though he guessed that people were happy to get to know him as long as he opened himself up to them. Maybe it was a lesson for him in the future, Gin could serve as the warning for what could go wrong with a genius and Toshiro could learn not to be as awful as him.

Still whenever Toshiro smiled at him, he felt like less of a terrible person.

* * *

 **A/N**

Behold, I have returned. For real though, I'm sorry for not updating in a while. I've been really busy and unmotivated.

So a bit of time has jumped and Toshiro is now the fifth seat. Gin is helping Toshiro be a more open person than he was in the canon timeline and Toshiro continues to soften Gin. Major changes to the story line won't happen until we reach the timeline featured in the anime because some things need to stay roughly the same. Anyway you'll see when we get there.

Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think.


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